Wolf Alone
by Kallen R
Summary: They reunite.
1. Wolf Alone

She smelt him before she heard him, a familiar and all encompassing scent that overwhelmed her Wolf, made it ache to get out. Her parents had sensed it too but she had already let the cup smash from her hands before they had even turned to her. Rhydian. He was here. He was here. She heard the bolt on the back door release, felt that cool wind seep into the kitchen carrying his scent with it. Before she realised, two legs had become four and she was running. Fast, fast as she had ever run in her entire life. Fast like the wind as she followed it to him. He was stood there, him. Rhydian. Her Rhydian. Her pack. Hers. Then he howled, and she was alive again. She shuddered, with anticipation, with joy, with everything that made her Wolf blood sing. Because that howl, that howl was just for her, it was a call for her and her alone. _My Rhydian_. The Wolf could not contain itself, could not let that howl go unanswered. She called back, with such ferocity, with such longing, that had she been human she would surely be crying. Then her name left his lips, a whispered breath of relief, intimate and heartbreaking. How had she survived without him when the look in his yellowing eyes told her just how much she had needed him and he her? He was a Wolf and for a moment, only a moment, all she could do was stare.  
'I love you,' she had said, a lifetime ago- a life ago- and she realised how foolish had been. She did not love Rhydian because it was more than that, so much more. In her Wolf form she could feel it. Could feel him. More than love, but love was the only way she could tell him. Tell him that he was more to her than anyone else, that a bond had snapped in place the moment that she had caught his scent and would never be able to be without him. But she didn't have to tell him, because he knew. He could feel it too. A moment where all she could do was stare and let that silent knowing pass between them. And then she was running. Or he was running. But they were together, after so so long, together.


	2. Wolf Run

She loved it out here, the smell of pine trees and snow and damp earth. This was her home, this was her wolf's home. She wasn't tame anymore, not that she ever really was, nor was she wild. She was what she was always meant to be. A Wolf. And a human. And she was happy and loved. It had been a month since Rhydian had found her, since he had moved to Canada. He had kept his parting words, and though he wasn't much older, and there were still people who cared what he did, he was here. He had kept his promise. He had found her.

He still found her. Anywhere she was, he was near. Even when he wasn't physically there himself, he was near. She carried his scent with him like it was her own and she knew he carried hers. The Wolf inside her hummed at the idea, a possessive twang that growled it's way to the surface whenever she thought of him. She understood it more now, the Wolf inside and the pack mentality. Understood it more now that she was an eighteen year old Alpha female; her packs leader since her mother had stepped down on her eighteenth birthday.

Movement behind her brought her out of her thought haze, a dark shadow creeping through the undergrowth. It made her smile before she realised she was even doing so. He still thought he could sneak up on her, even with the bond between them so inexplicably fixed, even with eolas enhancing her senses. She let him try though, she always did. After all, it was a fun game for her: 'can she catch the Rhydian (before he could pounce on her)?

He leapt at her in Wolf form, both knowing he would never truly hurt her, _could_ never truly hurt her. She twirled out of his path, laughing. So distracted by the glory of winning that she didn't notice his fast change in form as he became human. Nor did she notice as he slipped back into the forest and circled around her. She yelped as hands slipped around her waist and tugged her back.  
"Rhydian," she laughed, breathless, as he spun her around to face him. Their breath mingled together, scents entwined, and for the moment, out here in that woods with just the two of them, she was taken back to a time where they had ran a different woods, where Rhydian had been the young Wolfblood who had just wanted to be wild and free and where, secretly, she had yearned for that too. He kissed her then, long and deep and slow, like they had all the time in the world and many more to come. She was already breathless when the kiss began, but now she was an entirely new kind of breathless. Her body thrummed with renewed energy. She had begun walking this forest to think, about her future and about the packs. But now all she wanted to do was run, far and fast then home again. She wrapped her arms around his neck, yellow eyes staring at each other, need and hunger and restless energy shone between them, but also something deeper, something ancient and animal, something that made them eachother's first and everyone else second. She stood on the tips of her toes, raising herself to meet his lips for a second, lingering kiss before she pulled away entirely. When he reached for her, her name on his lips, her only reply was, "race ya," before she ran. Far and fast and home again, with Rhydian hot on her tail.


	3. Wolf Begun

Listening was her habit. It was considered a bad one but, well, if people felt the need to talk so loudly, why shouldn't she listen in? After all, it wasn't her fault that her enhanced hearing made every word that little bit clearer. Actually, a lot clearer.  
"Mads," the name got lost in the ruffles of sheets and pillows as Rhydian turned to face her where they lay, side by side on her bed. The heat of his body enveloped her but she refused to be distracted from the conversation downstairs so she shushed him. He had proved on more than one occasion that he was often right about these things, when to stop before she was caught. But each time she had counteracted him with her own stubbornness. This was probably one of those times again.

Words were bubbling up from downstairs, fast and sharp. Her parents were discussing her future. Then-  
"Maddy," a sigh. A firm sigh. She rolled off the bed, Rhydian remaining where he was, unmoving. She stuck her tongue out at him for it, wondering if he'd still be there when she got back. Probably. He just didn't want to face whatever music she had to. Coward. He laughed at her as he rolled back onto his back and closed his eyes. A cough from downstairs floated through the walls and she let out a small sigh as she left the room, closing the door behind her.  
"What? You can't blame me for listening when it's about me." Her mother stood in the kitchen, back leant against the side, a cup of tea resting in between both hands. Whether Maddy was Alpha or not didn't seem to phase her mother, sometimes she felt it was only a title. Her father on the other hand, had always liked to stay out of arguments.  
"We were just saying that we think it's best you go to the university near here."  
"I think it's called a college," her dad added helpfully. Of course, she had been considering this that day in the woods. It had never really been an option in Stoneybridge, there she would have probably just lived forever in the safety of her parents property. In some ways, she was glad to have left.  
"Are you sure?" The prospect of more school didn't really appeal to her but the idea that she had more than one option for her future thrilled her. "What about the pack though? What about Rhydian?" He could come with her, right? After all, they were the same age.  
"The pack will be fine and that's up to Rhydian," her mum took a sip of the drink in her hands but choked a little when her father asked,  
"So how is Rhydian? Sleeping?" Her face must have been flush because she was sure he had snuck in so well.  
"Speaking of, Maddy. Don't you think things are moving a little too fast between you two?" Her mum spoke, wiping her chin where tea had spilt with her finger, face serious and stony. A long time ago, her parents had moved Rhydian from their home because of this very same reason. He wasn't their family and he was very close to her. Now though, it had seemed her parents had come to an understanding about who Rhydian was to her. Now they had to accept it. But what they didn't have to accept was Rhydian under their roof.  
"Mum, I'm eighteen. He's eighteen."  
"I was eighteen once," her dad started.  
"And this the exact reason I'm telling you," her mum finished.  
"Because dad was eighteen once?"  
"Exactly," they said in unison.  
And that was that.

When she got to her room, Rhydian was already sat on the edge of the bed, waiting for her.  
"I'll ask for my papers to be sent over," he smiled at her. She matched that smile with a grin of her own, as she realised that meant he would come to university with her, before it faltered.  
"Eavesdropping, were you?"  
"It's okay if I do it, I don't get caught." She leant down, picked up a fallen pillow and launched it at him. He caught it and whirled it back at her but she was already jumping to the side, laughing. Then he caught her.  
"I've got to go, I don't think your parents are happy with me being here," he said, loud enough that they would definitely hear. Then he planted a soft kiss on her lips and walked for the window, a grin on his face as he spoke goodbye to her parents then jumped. She watched as he ran towards the forest, still smiling, happy to be starting this new life. Happy to have him with her.


	4. Wolf Choice - Rhydian's Perspective

He didn't know what had gotten into him lately, but he couldn't stop finding excuses to touch her. A hand on her shoulder, the small of her back, brushing her hair behind her ears, even sitting he would find himself drawn to her, find his knee or his shoulder brushing hers. It hadn't been like this before, at least he hadn't felt so conscious of it before. He leant down over the back of the sofa (couch, he corrected), his chin resting on her head. She was pouring over sheets of paper, like she had been doing for the past two hours. Though she hadn't really written anything, she'd just been staring at it. Like maybe if she looked at it long enough, it would fill itself in. Not likely, though.  
"Still can't decide what to do?" He muttered into her hair, her scent all Maddy and, his Wolf was pleased to find, some of him. He watched as she tapped the pen on her lips. He'd been thinking about those lips a lot lately.  
"It's just hard, you know? I've never really thought about it before." University- no, college- that's what she was talking about. Ever since her parents had told her she could go, it had plagued her mind.  
"I'm sure you'll figure it out," he tried to reassure her but all he got was a sigh. What he wanted was a smile. He leaned down and buried his face in the crook where her neck met her shoulders, leaving a soft kiss on her bare skin. "Hey, we still have a few months to figure this out," he murmured into her skin. Her scent was overwhelming him now, her breathing becoming more ragged. He just had to think that somewhere outside there was Dan and Emma, somewhere there was Maddy's parents, trying their best not to eavesdrop. They liked him, he knew that, and really they didn't have a problem that he was here everyday, it's just... he had noticed the sad look in their faces as they watched their cub grow up. He didn't think they were ready for that. He had noticed the same look sometimes in Mrs. Vaughan's face. Maybe no parent ever was.  
"Rhydian," she whined, not entirely wolfish, not entirely human. And just because he could, and because he knew she hated it, and because it kept staring at him on that damned college entry form, but mostly because it would make her smile, he replied with,  
"Madeline." He liked that. Liked the way it sounded coming off his lips, how the 'e' broke the name and how the 'i' rolled into the 'n'. He also liked the instant reaction it got him, the grin on her face as she reached up to flick his nose with her fingers. He replied with his own lupine smile as he hopped over the sofa, moved the papers off of her knees and took her hand. She didn't really reject as he tugged her to the kitchen door, to the cold Canadian air outside, to the wind and the forest and the wild itself calling out to the wolves inside. She even laughed as they shed their human form for fur and claws and ran. Because they could and because they should. Because no matter what she decided to do with her future, he would always run with her.


	5. Wolf Pack

She slept the rest of the day when they returned home from the run and Rhydian was still beside her on the sofa when she woke, his arm draped lazily over the top of her hip. She didn't move, not just yet, didn't want to. Her mum was cooking something in the kitchen a room away, her dad doing something entirely unproductive in the shed outside. She remembered the day Rhydian had found her, the dinner they shared and the conversation after. He had told them everything, of course. All about the mad scientists and the wolves. It still shook her to her core thinking about it. She remembered the doctor that had forced her to leave and something caught in her throat. He told them they could go back, he told them they could have gone back a long time ago, had they not already been on that cargo ship. The memory of it still haunted her, still haunted her Wolf. They had been trapped, away from land and the nature of the forests, they couldn't hear the call of the wild over the sound of crashing waves, and she had been scared. Scared and sad because she had nowhere and nothing except her parents. Her pack had been so far away and inspite of what she'd told them, how they would always be a pack no matter how far, it hadn't let her feel the loss any less.  
"What are you thinking about?" A voice in her ear spoke, deep and sleep filled. It made her shiver.  
"You," she replied. Because she was thinking about him, she had always been thinking about him. And that night, when he had shown up in Canada, when he had told his story and was leaving to go home to his imaginary long-lost uncle, he had took her in his arms and she could still remember the way his body had shook with broken sobs like it was yesterday. She didn't think she would ever forget.  
He made a noise, something mixed between a hum and a sigh, and it tickled her neck.  
"Have you told her yet, Rhydian?" A shout from another room came through the walls. Her mum.  
"Told me what?" She asked, curious. Rhydian made another mumble of a noise, burying himself deeper into the cushions, and she would have smiled at the wolf-like behaviour was she not already frowning. "Hey, wake up." She sat up, pulling out of his grasp as he reached for her. He groaned as he turned on his back and looked up at her, sleep draining from his eyes.  
"What is it?"  
"Mum said you were supposed to tell he something." His forehead crinkled in concentration for a moment before he realised.  
"Oh yeah, it's about Tom and Shannon, they'll be visiting sometime this summer." Her excitement must have shown on her face because suddenly he was grinning up at her. Finally, their pack would be together again. Finally, she would be together again. She flicked him on the nose for not telling her sooner and he grabbed her and brought her back down to him. And they remained like that, drifting between sleep and conversation, until their wolves appetites became too much to ignore and the smell of food brought them to dinner.


	6. Wolf Start

That next day, she didn't see Rhydian at all until nightfall. She wasn't surprised though, he'd decided to get a job. That's what had surprised her the most, and when she'd asked why, his only reply had been that he didn't want to rely on Segolia. She understood that, she really did. Her parents had been the same, as soon as they had docked, they'd had Segolia transfer their money around, make it untraceable but still theirs (after all, it was the money that had been amassed over the countless generations of her family). As soon as they'd done that, they'd bought this house. She stared around at the vast expanse of her room, bigger than it had been in Stoneybridge but still somehow smaller, emptier. Although her parents had done their best at filling the place, there was still things she would always be missing from her old home. Things she could get now she wasn't being hunted, things she planned to one day get. The only time her room ever seemed complete was when Rhydian was here with her. But he wouldn't be here today, not until later. She contemplated getting a job herself, maybe it would look better on the entry form. The entry form that was currently sat taunting her on the desk. If Shannon was here, she'd know what to do. Rhydian was already looking into the art courses they had, it was perfect for him and she smiled at the thought. She'd contemplated joining him as a photography student but decided she had no real experience there except for the small club they'd had in Stoneybridge. She rolled to her side on the bed, it was still morning and she had the whole day to herself. At daybreak she had ran the parameter of their territory, hundreds of acres of land, mottled with rock and forest and snow capped mountains, there was even a lake or three. It was a new thing, being able to experience her Wolf so thoroughly, to be able to change whenever she pleased and run wherever she liked. She'd noticed she'd been getting faster, faster than Rhydian and faster than her parents, because she wasn't big like Rhydian, she was small - smallest of her pack- so she was lithe. She found her coat didn't camouflage well in the snow, but the snow stuck to it well, so she'd learned how to hunt. In fact, she'd learnt a great deal of things here. She could use eolas now to communicate with her pack whilst they hunted across large areas of land, watching each other, searching through each others part of the land for any sign of prey. Then when eventually they did spot it, they would converge, and they would watch eachother, they would watch her, for signals as she would watch the prey. Somewhere in between thoughts she'd drifted back into unconsciousness, waking up some two hours later. It was then that she'd decided to actually go out and look for a job. She didn't know what, something not boring though, something that wouldn't cage her in. She'd been into town quite a lot, it was a small town, one of those places you just kinda pass through to get somewhere better, but it had more than enough. And that's when the idea had hit her.

She knew where Rhydian worked, and she contemplated going into the small coffee shop as she passed. His scent lingered around the place and it was truly tempting but she passed because there was somewhere she had in mind. She didn't realise she was listening so hard as she walked past until she heard her name. It was soft and quiet, as if he'd uttered it without thought the moment he'd caught her scent.  
"Shush, get back to work," she spoke to the air around her. He was in there somewhere, and she could just imagine the way he looked, standing with a coffee in hand, pausing whatever he was doing as he noticed her. She chuckled to herself as she continued on, not even glancing through the large glass window at the front of the shop. Her gaze fixed on a point in the distance, following the only road that led this direction out of town, the road that lead to the large ski resort and, hopefully, her future employers.


	7. Wolf Family - Rhydian's Perspective

Maddy was excited that night, she was bouncing about something and he figured it was about wherever she'd been going that afternoon. It reminded him of the time of the lunar eclipse where she'd jumped on his back and had him run around the house. He laughed quietly at the thought and she raised an eyebrow at him from her chair beside him at the table.  
"What are you smiling about?" She quizzed, her accent had changed slightly, had gotten softer.  
"Nothing, just a thought." Her mum was watching them across the table with knowing eyes, her dad was oblivious to everything but his dinner plate. He'd once told someone that his pack had been taken away from him when they'd left to Canada. It was true. Even though he'd had Shannon and Tom (even Jana), he hadn't had this. It seemed like so long ago that they'd had that first 'hog-roast'. She made a noise from beside him, one that said she'd be sure to ask again later, then carried on bouncing her leg. He paused, food halfway to his mouth. Dan and Emma had already begun another conversation between them at the other side of the table when he asked, "So what did you do today?" He knew there was suspicion lacing his voice but he also knew there was humour, because whatever she'd done, she was obviously itching to tell them. He'd only put off asking this long to tease her. She stilled for a moment before her face broke out into a huge grin.  
"I got a job." It was her parents that congratulated her and began asking questions whilst he stayed silent. But he couldn't help it, that damned smile had floored him speechless. He never forgot how beautiful she was, but sometimes it caught him off guard, like now, she was smiling because she was proud of herself and somehow it just... it caught him off guard. Then she looked at him and frowned and it made him angry at himself for being the reason she stopped smiling. He matched her earlier grin,  
"We'll see you in the Olympics then, yeah?" He watched her face go serious but he could see the humour in her eyes.  
"I'll get you front row tickets." It had always been this way with them, easy and comfortable and fun and it tore at his heart to remember that there had been a time that he'd never had this and that there had been a time that he'd lost this. But as he watched them smile and laugh, his Wolf hummed with contentment, assuring him that he would never lose this again, never lose his pack again.

It was dark outside when he was leaving, the kind of dark you could only ever get in Canada. Where the shadows of the trees and the light of the moon mingled and danced together to form shapes in the night forest, as much alive in the dark as it was in the day (if not more so), and the stars were so clear and the moon so bright it didn't seem like it could possibly be the same one they'd howled to in Stoneybridge. But he wasn't paying much attention to the outside, not when she was stood so close to him. He watched as the frigid wind that seeped through the half open door played with her hair. Mesmerised as it curled away from her face and floated. He could see her watching him, watching him as he took a lock of her hair in his hand and tugged on it.  
"Ouch," she laughed, the sound getting muffled then hushing altogether as he brought her towards him and kissed her. There was something different when he kissed her now to when he had that day she left. That day the kiss had been claiming, a goodbye and a hello, a promise. Now it didn't need to be, now she had him, he was hers. And he wasn't ever letting her go again. He'd have deepened the kiss but now wasn't really the time, even as his Wolf urged him on. Instead, he pulled away from her. He regretted it. Her face was flushed and he could her heart racing, he could sense her Wolf reaching out to his own and his predatory instincts told him exactly what she wanted. He took a step back because if he didn't, he would have given in to her.  
"Goodnight, Maddy," he smiled, his own heart beating wildly.  
"Goodnight, Rhydian," she said, but he was already racing away, to that lovely lovely forest and away from that beautiful beautiful girl, her words carrying on the wind.


	8. Wolf Snow

The weeks had started to flow by, one perfect day after another. She loved him, she really did. But when she was her Wolf, something was different, it was more than that. And on that full moon, when they ran together as a pack, the distance that separated them became non-existent, they blurred together. Like the same force that pulled them to the moon pulled them to each other. It was made worse by Eolas. Sometimes she would mention a place where she had been only to find that it was Rhydian that had been there, not her, not really. This felt like one of those times, as they lay there, snow covered, wearing human skins but Wolf hearts, she thrummed with the energy of her recent change. She could feel the same energy pouring off of him too. He was panting softly, his eyes half closed to the sky. Neither one of them was touching.  
"I figured out what I wanted to do." He shifted his gaze to her. It had been two weeks since Shannon and Tom had visited, and just as she thought, Shannon had helped - even though she didn't know it. It had been blissful with them here, she hadn't fully understood how much she had missed them until she'd began crying uncontrollably. She'd spent a lot of that week just having fun, her and Rhydian had taken them to their favourite spot for the full moon, she'd done a lot of skiing with Tom, and they'd talked, for hours and hours about everything. And when they left, it had been with a promise to meet again, not a goodbye.  
"What's that?" He murmured, eyes closed.  
"College. I know what I want to do," the answer had been in front of her for years.  
"I knew you'd figure it out," he smiled softly to the sun. For a moment, she just stared at that smile. Light was filtering down through the trees, and from where they were, laying on the soft earth, it looked as though the sky was cracked with the dark silhouettes of the branches. A soft breeze was pushing at the leaves and with it, it brought the scents of home, of the forest. Her forest. She could smell Rhydian too, so close to her, he was intoxicating to her and the Wolf inside.  
"Occult History," she smiled proudly. A laugh shook the earth around them and it made her smile instantly. She watched him from the corner of her eye as he turned his head to her, a goofy lupine grin drawing her in.  
"I knew you'd figure it out," he repeated. It had taken her a while to decide, but when Shannon had begun talking of Segolia, when they had begun reflecting on Mr Jeffries class, she'd understood. History, the history of her species in particular, that's what she was going to study. Rhydian reached an arm out to her, and she followed without thought, moving into him, head resting on his chest as he gripped her to him. They lay like that for a long time, just talking, and the last thing she remembered was his wet nose tickling against her pricked ear, their fur bodies keeping them warm as they slept in the snow forest.


	9. Wolf Challenge

They came at her and she was so unprepared for it that all she could do was let them back her into the corner. She knew her eyes bled yellow and that the scent she gave off was not human, theirs wasn't either. There were three of them in total, none of them Alphas, not yet, but there was a clear leader. The male stood in the middle of them, a viscous smile on his face as he strode towards her. Wrong, they smelt wrong. _Not pack_ , her Wolf was telling her. _Challenge_ , it spoke. She shook her head and squared up to him as he began stalking closer, a female and male at his sides.  
"You're in our territory," he spoke, a soft guttural snarl to his voice. She had known this would happen, she just hadn't known _this_ would happen. It was likely that there would be other wolves in the college but she didn't think they would react this way. 'I'll see you soon, Mads.' That's what Rhydian had told her that morning, but he wouldn't be here for another week at least. It was her first day at this college, situated hundreds of miles away from home some ten towns away, and it was bigger than she had expected, so of course there would be other Wolfbloods there. She knew she was foolish to have come without her pack. She didn't feel fear though and she knew they would sense that.  
"I'm not in your territory. Where is your Alpha?" The snarling grew louder and she was glad for the privacy at the back of the old stone building, one of them even began snapping- which would have had more effect if it was canines and not human teeth. "If you are asking me to leave, I will not. Only an Alpha had the right to demand another Alpha off their territory." She had actually expected their Alpha to be here, it was just luck that they weren't. They sniffed at her, the two at the side of the male, and she watched as they shrank away from her. They knew now, that she was strong, that she was not afraid, and most importantly, that she was Alpha.  
"What's your name?" Asked the leader.  
"What's yours?" She replied. He snarled at her, low and all animal. The other two were rocking back and forth, torn between the will of the pack and the instinctual fear of an Alpha. Images flashed in her mind, a Wolf running, darting through the snow, feet lifting from the ground as it leaped and bounded fast, so fast, to her. He was miles away but he had seen, had seen her in the corner and had seen the threat of three wolves. He wasn't able to sense that they were not as strong as her, and he was panicking and racing towards her, knowing he wouldn't make it in time if something did happen. "Rhydian," she breathed calmly, out loud because she knew he was watching through eolas, "stop. It's okay. I'm okay. Stop." The Wolf in her mind stopped, panting hard. He was watching the distance before him, still so far away from her. "Turn around, go back. I'm okay." He let out a small howl, of reassurance and longing, before he began loping back into their territory. "You three as well, turn around and go back. If you have problems with me or my pack being here, arrange a meeting for your Alpha and me. If not, go. I didn't come here to create any upset, I came to learn." She did something definitively stupid then, she walked straight towards them, pushed them apart, and turned her back on them. She challenged them then she showed them that they were no threat to her, then she showed them her vulnerable back. Should they have decided, in that moment, to challenge her, she would have been at a disadvantage, no pack and vulnerable. She just hoped that if they did decide to get their Alpha, Rhydian would be here with her.

That night, she replayed the scene in her head as she lay awake in this room that wasn't hers but was, at the same time. Her body was alive and buzzing, her Wolf telling her that somewhere on this campus, a threat lurked. There had been no lessons today, it was a day to get settled, to unpack your bags and come to terms with moving to college. They had ambushed her as she was walking through the courtyard outside and she had only managed to sense them a second before, no time to set a location or come up with a plan. She had tried to keep the dialect short, hadn't wanted to cause any trouble or make them react. It surprised her actually, how little control they seemed to have, but at the same time, she understood why. These were Wolfbloods raised with the wilderness on their door step, they had never really had to be anything other than what they were. So territory meant a lot to them, it meant a lot to their wolves, and she was a trespasser. Wolves had killed for less. Even her Wolf understood the need for territory. However, she had been right in what she said, she couldn't let them intimidate her, she was, after all, an Alpha to her own pack with her own territory. And if their Alpha asked that she leave, she would. There would be no disputes. But if they hurt her, that meant they were fair game for her to punish as she see fit or for her pack to demand their own justice. That was just how it worked. That was their balance with their Wolf and the human. There was a knock then, at her door, pulling her out of her thoughts. She frowned.  
"What are you doing here?" She was speaking through the wood, knowing he could hear her as she unlocked the locks.  
"I couldn't sleep." Rhydian greeted her on the other side, hands already reaching for her. He stepped through the boundary of the room and wrapped her in his arms. "Couldn't settle." She could tell, could feel his Wolf humming beneath the surface of his skin, relaxing as he embraced her. She breathed him in, the scent of her woods.  
"Want to sleep here?" She asked into his shoulder and he mumbled his affirmation into her hair. Her body was buzzing in a different way now, but she was relaxed, no longer worrying about the unfamiliar wolves around her, not when she had part of her pack with her; not when she had Rhydian with her. Alphas, both Alphas. She was asleep instantly, curling into him. More exhausted than she realised. Comforted by the fact that when she woke up, she knew he would still be there with her, that although she was far away from her family and the rest of her pack, she still had Rhydian, she still had pack.


	10. Wolf Slumber - Rhydian's Perspective

"Is Rhydian with you?" Her parents had gotten in touch that night, waking her up, after noticing his scent leaving the territory.  
"No," she replied. They were on loudspeaker, their voices crackling through the phone.  
"I can tell you're lying," her mum.  
"She can tell, Maddy," her dad, from a distance.  
"I'm here." He decided it was time to speak. "But for a reason-" he started.  
"Oh yes. And what reason is that, Maddy?" They were choosing to ignore him, overprotective as usual. _Well_ , he thought, _so was he_.  
"There's other Wolfbloods here and they're not happy with Maddy being on their territory." There was an intake of breath on the other side of the phone.  
"What happened, Rhydian?" His Wolf growled remembering what it had seen through the pack bond, through eolas. He quickly told Dan and Emma what had happened. It had been one of the most terrifying moments of his life, he had seen her, backed into the corner, yellow eyes flashing. Every bone, every instinct in his body, flared with the need to run and help her. He knew he wouldn't have made it in time if they had decided to attack and that was the scariest thought. That he wouldn't have been able to help her. He shuddered at the thought of her in that danger. Had they hurt her, he wouldn't have known what he would have done. Through the crackling growling at the other end of the phone, he knew that whatever he would have done, Maddy's parents would have been right behind him.  
"It's okay, mum. Dad. I'm okay." She was trying to reassure them, she had done the same to him. In that moment where she had been in danger, she had made herself more vulnerable by using eolas. It shouldn't have even been possible in the university, not with all the technology. He had heard those words as she spoke them but he couldn't sense the truth behind them, it had taken all his willpower as a human to turn his Wolf around.  
"You should leave, try another place." No doubt that option hadn't even crossed her mind, she was stubborn and strong, she wouldn't leave, he knew that before she had even told her parents so. Definitely strong. He had watched as she walked through the three Wolfbloods, all mature, all snarling, everyone of them an enemy. To his horror, she had turned her back on them. Had he been there, she could have done that without having to worry about the threat behind her. But he wasn't there, and she had been in danger. Her parents had begun arguing with her over the phone now, warning her about the risks and safety of an Alpha in another's territory, about trespassing.  
"I'm here. And when the papers come through, I'll be staying here too." He spoke firmly, trying to tell them that she would be safe with him.  
"Don't remind her," Dan prompted, humour lacing his voice. He had always been the one able to change the mood of any conversation.  
"Yes." And then Emma said one of the things that he had been waiting so long to hear from them. "You'll be safer with Rhydian there. Don't lose sight of each other." He knew she only had her daughters safety in mind but he was happy regardless, Emma had accepted him as a fixture in her daughters life and as a capable protector. Had he been in Wolf form, he would have probably huffed proudly and maybe paraded around a little.  
"I know, mum," she said, looking at him from where she lay facing him. And that look... it suddenly made him feel very conscious of the bed they were sharing. He hadn't come here with that in mind, he'd come here because he had actually been unable to sleep. His body was human but his mind had been all Wolf. He wasn't able to rest knowing that somewhere, she was also awake, tossing and turning under a roof with possible enemies and definite danger. He hadn't even been thinking when he jumped on the last bus out of town, or when he'd run the rest of the way on four legs. He hadn't even been thinking when she opened the door. He'd heard her voice, talking to him, asking him something, and his shoulders had dropped in relief. And when he had seen her, hair tousled from the bed, pajama shorts just that little too short, he hadn't thought, he'd just reached for her. It was only after she relaxed, after he felt her breath her in as he did the same, that the Wolf calmed and he was able to think again. She was saying goodbye to her parents now, sleep filling her voice. He knew she was exhausted, and her fingers began fumbling for the phone that lay on the pillows between them. He reached for it and turned off the call for her, reaching over her to put it on the stand by her bed. He hadn't been thinking of doing anything, not when he could see how tired she was. But then she had reached and wrapped her arms around his neck. He paused instantly, frozen, arm still reaching to the stand.

"Maddy," he whispered softly, and she let a low moan escape her lips. It nearly stopped his heart. Every breath she took became loud in his ears, the rustle of the sheets overbearing as he leaned down over her, her body moving to fit his beneath. "Madeline," he repeated, voice serious. She laughed up at him, wisps of breath mingling with his own.  
"Rhydian." There was a smile in her voice and on her face, but he couldn't get passed the tiredness in her eyes. And even though it killed him, and went against every instinct and desire screaming at him, he rolled back.  
"You're killing me, Mads." She laughed again, but he knew she was pouting at having him remove her arms from him. He turned to the Wolf girl, the girl who had saved him all those years ago in that photography room. "I love you." He said, lifting a hand to her cheek. His Wolf hummed with satisfaction as she leaned into his touch.  
"I love you, too," she smiled, edging closer to him. He took her in his arms, pulling her close to him, within moments she was asleep. He, however, was up much longer, cursing the pajama shorts that were too short.


	11. Wolf Prepared

She couldn't shake the feeling she was being watched, it had hung on her back all week, an itching knowing. It made the Wolf inside claw shivers down her spine and snarl aggressively at anyone who made eye contact. It just made the human angry. She was angry. Angry at all the Wolfbloods watching her. There was going to be a meeting that night, it turned out that there was more than just one pack residing in the campus grounds. To her, it was understandable, wolves travelled, people travelled. They weren't invading, they had no intention of taking the territory from the pack that resided there already. But to the pack whose grounds this was, this was a challenge, they were furious. At least, the students of that pack were, she was yet to meet any actual elders of the pack. Still, it made for a very tense atmosphere that three different packs were haunting the same area. Especially when each had more than one member. Which made her think about Rhydian, she was angry at him too. Overprotective male Wolf, all testosterone and challenge, all Alpha in his own right, and hers. She wasn't angry at him per se, more at the instinct that drove him, because in the same way that he was hers, his Wolf made her his to protect. Overprotective was actually an understatement. She knew that he shadowed her when he could, knew that he watched through glimpses of eolas if he could. It was made worse by him staying in her room, so three days after he had appeared, she kicked him out. Eventually everything had come through for his entry and he now had his own room, but that didn't stop his shadowing. Sometimes though, she didn't mind. His presence had gotten her out of a few challenges (though she was sure she could have handled them regardless) and, really, she had noticed that the members of the other foreign pack here travelled in groups. But to her, it seemed that having any more than two Wolfbloods together at the same time made everyone that bit more tense. They had been playing this silly numbers intimidation tactic for about a week before the Alpha of the territory had called a meeting. She should have been more nervous than she was, but honestly she was just tired of all this challenge. She had wanted to come here to learn, she really had, and her Occult Studies class was amazing. So amazing. She hadn't reached the topic of evolution that she had been so keenly anticipating yet, but the class was interesting and she enjoyed it. She'd enjoy it more, however, if there wasn't always a threat at her back. So no, she wasn't nervous, nor was she intimidated. Not when she was an Alpha too, not when everything that made them Wolfblood also ran through her veins. After all, they weren't wild, they were still functioning human beings. So that night, when she watched from her window as the other foreign Wolf Pack grumbled between themselves and left, she merely sighed, shrugged on a jacket and leaned back into Rhydian.  
"I hope they don't tell me to leave," she huffed, a frown on her face. She could tell he was still tracking them, for some reason he was always better at that than her - even before his time in the wild.  
"You think we should follow now?" He askee, his focus solely on the threat before them. Really, she admired how much of a strong leader he was becoming, but she still grumbled.  
"Not yet." He was so focused on the departing pack that he hadn't realised they had left a member downstairs, presumably given the order to follow her and Rhydian when they left. She turned, eyes ignoring the Wolfblood hidden in the alcove of the building to her left. Lifting her hands around Rhydian's neck, she pulled him down closer to her, "I'm sure they'll wait for us." And she felt his arms wrap tight around her waist as she curled into him, back pressing slightly against the open window, before she kissed him, hard. She had already thrown all of her senses open to monitor the other wolves, but now she kind of wished she hadn't, because now she was vulnerable to Rhydian. It was infuriating how much he and his Wolf called to her, and even more infuriating how much she wanted to answer. The thing about having her senses on high alert meant she was able to tell exactly what he wanted and exactly how much of her he wanted. And it wasn't long before the Wolf outside sensed that too, and he ran. She laughed, lips a hairs breadth from Rhydian's, but she didn't know what exactly for. Triumph for chasing the Wolfblood away or nerves from what she would have, under other circumstances, been willing to give Rhydian, but also at the aggravated look in his eyes and the dishevelled hair that matched.  
"We can go now," she smiled. He huffed a breath, stepping back and running a hand though his hair.  
"Well now I kind of don't want to."


	12. Wolf Meeting

Even for her, a girl born with a pack - albeit a small one- and with the knowledge of Wolfblood culture, the sight she was seeing was surprising. They had ran there on four legs but had arrived on two. However, they were in the minority. At least fifteen wolves surrounded the man before her, arcing the sides of him, flanking him. Only three of their pack was human besides him, the three that had cornered her that day. The other pack within the school were also human, another three. A tall, dark haired girl stood in the middle of two male wolves, her tan skin at odds with the brisk air. Each leader had their pack flanking them, hers was the smallest, with Rhydian as her only other member. She was not deterred however, considering there was only four Alphas present, with herself and Rhydian making up half that number.  
"Thank you for coming," said the man. He was nothing to behold, no remarkable features aside from his hairless head. But the way his tone carried in the wind spoke with something much more, he was powerful, as an individual he was much stronger than them. But there was something else, something kind. It made her realise why the pack around him bowed their heads when he spoke, with respect and loyalty. He was at odds with the three who had challenged her in the campus. She nodded her respect at the man, because his tone demanded her respect, respect but not submission.  
"It was the polite thing to do," spoke the other female leader. At her voice, the wolves behind the man raised their heads, and pearly teeth shone as they caught the moonlight above. She realised then how silent the world had become, a hush had descended the forest and the nightlife had left. A meeting of wolves had made the night silent.  
"Polite, yes. I hope we can be that, friendly even." Rhydian was still as a statue to the right of her, unmoving, as though mimicking the trees that surrounded the small clearing they had gathered in, she however, smiled. A small smile, but she knew it would not be lost on the older man. "Please, introduce yourselves?" A question, an offer to refuse or accept.  
"My name," she offered, speaking to his pack and not just him and noting the three younger Wolfbloods at the back, "is Madeline. Madeline Smith. My pack was once called and will always be the Stoneybridge Pack-"  
"Liar," the male Wolf who had threatened her that day snarled, his pack joining in. The bald man merely raised an eyebrow, asking for her explanation. She watched the male Wolf, stared him up and down unblinking, before turning back to the Alpha. She noticed him visibly bristle at being brushed off from the corner of her eye.  
"It is true that you may have heard my other name somewhere, however all that is behind me and that name isn't needed anymore. I came here, to this place, to seek refuge from a human scientist that was hunting me and my pack. I had a different name for a while, but I can assure you that I am Madeline of Stoneybridge. But you knew that, didn't you?" What she said last had been a gamble, she had noticed what she assumed as recognition in the Alphas eyes.  
"Yes," he said, before the other Wolfbloods could view the question as a challenge. "I know of the long existence of the Stoneybridge pack so I have no reason to doubt your words. Nor should my pack. We welcome you to this territory Madeline Smith, we also welcome your mate." Had she been in any other situation, she would have choked at the phrasing he used to describe Rhydian. Surely he could have just said pack. Rhydian, however, much to his credit, didn't move a muscle or even blink at the word. She was sure they'd laugh about it later, maybe. She nodded her head to the man. Then the other leader spoke, her name was Malory -an old name that strangely suited her- and her companions were her brother, Sam, and her pack member, James. All three of them were already recognised by the pack as they originated in another part of Canada. it didn't surprise her, this place was heaven on earth for their Wolf counterparts. The leader of this pack, he was called Thomas, he did not introduce the rest of his pack other than the three that she had already met. Isaac, the self designated leader of the three, was his son, then Kaitlyn and Ezekiel (Zeke, the Wolfblood had corrected). These were names she was struggling to remember already. No doubt Rhydian would have them memorised for her though. The night was civil as Thomas welcomed them all into his territory, suddenly the wolves behind him seemed less threatening and Isaac was smiling by the time they left. Though she knew she wouldn't be able to relax completely until she was away from that large pack of wolves. Malory must have felt the same because after less than five minutes of running, a white haired Wolf joined them, followed closely two other wolves, one her light brother and the other a contrasting grey. She let them run with them, beside them, but not in front and not too close. Both packs maintaining their boundaries but strangely, still a unit. They ran together, only breaking apart as they began changing, slowing to a light jog before stopping at the edge of the forest.

"I'm sorry for eavesdropping," Malory's brother spoke, his face flushing. She laughed at the boy, as Rhydian walked up behind her, placing an arm around her waist.  
"I'm sure she knew you were there, and that she's sorry for playing with you, Sam." Sam laughed. She scowled.  
"I don't think you are, but that's okay," he laughed again. Malory was already running back to the campus doors, James behind her.  
"It was nice meeting you all," she smiled.  
"Yeah, see you around." He replied, before running to join his sister who was waving at them, nothing but a silhouette cast from the light behind the open door. They waved back and she felt the weight she had been carrying this past week, lift from her back. Figuratively of course, considering there was still Rhydian at her back, still his arm around her waist. She mumbled something about him being an overprotective animal before she began walking back towards the dorms, leaving him to chuckle behind her before catching up and enveloping her hand in his.  
"You did well," he smiled at her.  
"I know," she grinned back.


	13. Wolf Bond

Sam hadn't lied, they really had seen him around. Him, Malory and James, all of them. For some reason, the Wolfbloods seemed to just gather together. She presumed it was some sort of pack thing, though she also guessed it was part of their personalities to avoid others. Well, aside from Malory. She seemed perfectly content to interact with anyone. Her confidence made it hard not to stare, the tattoo that ran fiercely down her right arm didn't help either. So really, it was Sam, James and Isaacs pack that gathered together. Though Sam and James never ventured too far from their leader and sister.  
"Don't you think it's ironic that you're taking Occult Studies?" Isaac smirked from where he leaned back casually, his hands digging into the grass of the courtyard. She chewed for a moment, trying to think of an argument and failing. It really was ironic. So she shrugged, mouth full of food. "And you," he nodded at Rhydian, "art?"  
"What of it?" He said lazily, breath whispering past her ears from where he sat close to her. Whenever the other Wolfbloods were around, he always seemed to edge that little bit closer.  
"He's good at it," she added, not really paying much attention to Isaac. He seemed to be trying too hard to be dominant, seemed to have a need to be the controller of the conversation. She noticed it in his actions too, the way he moved in an attempt to act casual and eye catching, she also noticed it in the string of women he seemed to flirt with endlessly.  
"I'm good at it," Rhydian repeated, a smile in his voice. Her eyes instantly flew up to catch that smile, but he was already looking at her. Isaac made a noise and she turned back to him.  
"You can't really speak, you chose sport. Isn't that cheating?" The irritation in his face broke as he laughed at her words.  
"Touché," he spoke as he fell back onto the grass. It was unseasonably warm, the sun showing its face and its heat for once, meaning the courtyard was littered with groups of students, hugged together in intimate circles. Theirs was no different. Isaac was staring at something from where he lay on the ground, eyes tracking, and she knew without turning that Malory and her pack were walking towards them. She watched Rhydian turn and smile but she was engrossed in her sandwich again.  
"Hey," Isaac drawled, stretching out like a Wolf after a nap.  
"Move," Malory shoved him out of the way before sitting herself on the grass, her pack members joining them. This was what life was slowly becoming for them, easy, almost - but not quite- comfortable and slowly, very slowly, they were getting to know one another.

It didn't take long for a term to pass, it didn't take long for her to become fully integrated into her new lifestyle, and she was good at it. What she wasn't good at, however, was avoiding Rhydian. Living in such close proximity to him was killing her. Somewhere along the way, she had stopped being able to think rationally around him, and she hated that. What's worse, he seemed totally calm around her, it was maddening. All the gentle brushes when they were close, all the whispered breaths and light touches, they set her on fire. But Rhydian, he seemed so calm, so collected, so at ease. She tried to mimic that but she was losing her mind. So she had stopped going to his dorm, and he must have understood because he had stopped coming to hers. Though, some part of her wished he wouldn't. At some point, Malory had begun inviting herself in. She had turned up one night, pillow in hand, and said something along the lines of 'secret Alpha sleepover meeting number one, commence' and dove onto the bed. Since then, they had spent a lot of time together, and it was nice, nice having another friend. Sure, she wasn't Shannon or Tom, and she wasn't pack either, but just to have someone, well... that was nice. But when Malory had asked about her and Rhydian, she had almost spat out the drink she had been drinking..  
'No! We haven't...' She had said, face flushed. From other end of the bed, cross legged, Malory's eyes had been flashing with humour and a little surprise. 'At least, not yet anyway.' Honestly, she hadn't known why she'd told Mal, but it was fun to just talk about it with someone. Because obviously she couldn't exactly say anything to her parents..

'Why?' The brunette had asked, all serious and not the least bit mocking. It had made her answer seriously too. Because, for some reason, Malory had that effect on people, she was good at getting them to talk.  
'I don't know. It's not like I don't want to... more like, maybe he doesn't.' It had felt so normal, to talk about normal things for a change.  
'You're mad, Madeline.' Malory had said, smiling at her own play on words. 'You two, well, I haven't seen anything like it except from my folks and a few others from my pack. It's a bond, you know,' she had smiled wistfully. This, coupled with eolas telling her exactly what he was doing, had led her to Rhydian's door. Well, almost to his door, she had paused around the hallway. She could see him, with eolas, staring up at the ceiling, a frown on his face. It made the Wolf inside stir. And then he turned, facing the window and the moon outside, facing the image of her on his stand... a drawing of a Wolf, her Wolf. It made up her mind for her. Rhydian, he loved her. She had known that in Stoneybridge and she had known that the day he had appeared on the mountain side before her, and she knew that now. More than anything, she knew that it was Rhydian first and everything else second, just as it had been that day in the woods of her new home. She didn't hesitate again as she walked round the bend to his door, but she almost let out a bark as that door swung open before she had even the chance to knock and an arm reached out and pulled her in.

The air was gone from her lungs, a startling loss of breath. Startling but not at all bad. Rhydian was kissing her, the weight of his body pressing her tight against the door, his hand still grasping hers above her head. She met his passion with an intensity of her own. Whatever thoughts she had been thinking had flung themselves from her mind with the touch of his tongue. She let out a sound and she wasn't sure if it was a moan, his name or a prayer but it was met by a deep rumbling in the back of his throat, a soft guttural growl that could have almost been a purr. Then he was lifting her, his arms enveloping her fully and the ground came away. His scent was all around her, and the meanings behind it ran through her head so fast she didn't have time to comprehend them as anything other than desire. And she burned, she was burning. From the heat, from the intensity, from everywhere he touched, he left a trail of fire along her body. Her arms wrapped themselves around his neck as she tugged him closer, a need and a hunger for more, her hands raking through his hair. Then she was falling, they were falling, until she hit something soft, soft at her back but there was Rhydian above her, solid and all encompassing. Clothes had been lost along the way and she hadn't even really noticed... not until now. He had paused, he was looking at her, his eyes bright as flames but not yellow. She leaned up, pressing her lips to his, tugging on his lower lip, urging him on.  
"Maddy," a moan, a plea, a request and a question. She looked up at him, his face full of awe and love and she knew, knew how right this was. She couldn't deny how much she wanted this, couldn't deny how much he wanted this. And the Wolf inside, it tore at the edges of her mind, reaching out to him, telling her in her very core how right this was. The human could only call what they had love but the Wolf, the Wolf called him mate, and the Wolf knew the bond between them as eternal and sacred and ancient. And that's what she was, what she would always be, human and Wolf. So she nodded, and she told him, and that night, she let Rhydian claim everything she had.


	14. Wolf Awake - Rhydian's Perspective

The sun splashed colour around the room, it's ever illuminating light washing over everything. Somehow, he just wanted to draw it. To savour it's perfection. But then the breeze from the window brought her scent crashing down on his senses, and his eyes stopped wandering and focused on the girl before him. And that was perfection. A thousand images rushed through his head, a thousand moments with her, all perfect and beautiful and he couldn't find the thoughts to sum up what he felt for her, in that moment and every moment they had shared. She moved towards him, unconscious in her sleep and it made him want to pull her into his arms and not let her go. He couldn't even believe it, that he was waking up in bed beside her. The sun lay upon her cheek and he couldn't help but reach out and touch it, make sure that he wasn't dreaming. Thoughts of the day she had left ran through his mind and he pushed them out, he didn't need them anymore, not when she was here. He was so deep in concentration trying to memorise the scene, trying to work out the angle of the light, that he hadn't even noticed her open her eyes.  
"You're smiling like an idiot," she huffed, sleep and happiness filling her voice, and he loved that. Loved the quiet joy in her tone that was just for him.  
"Can you blame me?" He asked, watching the way her eyes caught the sun's rays, lighting them up in a way he had seen countless times in the forest but never in his room.  
"No," she smiled, and it was one of those glorious smiles that wrenched at his heart and shook his Wolf to the core.  
"You're beautiful," he said without thought, watching how her cheeks flushed at the words.  
"You're not too bad looking yourself." And her wicked grin made him suddenly very very conscious of the night before. He had seen her, of course he had. He'd been laying awake, thinking of why she had suddenly stopped coming to see him and why her room was now filled with the scent of their newly befriended foreign Wolf, and he'd watched as she left her room, slipping into eolas without much thought (and only the help of the small potted bonsai tree beside his bed). And when he noticed where she was going, he hadn't been able to stop watching. It was only when she paused he realised what was running through her head. For a moment, his heart nearly stopped. He hadn't known what to think, obviously he had been happy, after all, it's not like he hadn't been thinking about her in that way. In fact, it had gotten a lot worse recently as his Wolf perceived all the other Wolfbloods as threats and challenges. But she had paused, and that nearly shattered him. What if she had turned around? He would have respected that, but would that have meant she didn't want to be with him? Lately, his whole mind had been taken up with thoughts of Maddy. But he couldn't bear the thought of watching her walk away, so he couldn't let her see his face, not when she might have been watching him too. He'd turned around, buried his face in his pillow, and he'd waited. Then when he had heard her walking to his door, something inside him snapped and he'd found himself drawn to her. That night, he'd told her how much she meant to him, had tried to bury all of the insecurities that had made her pause before coming to him. He'd told her he loved her and had shown her how much. "You know-" she started, that wicked grin still in place, "we don't have college today."  
"You, Madeline Smith, you are going to kill me." And he made that wicked grin go away, replaced it with something softer, as he brought his lips towards her. "I love you," he spoke, in the split second between one kiss and another.  
"Rhydian Morris, I love you too." And she said it with such surety, such conviction, that the sound that left his throat wasn't entirely human. She let out a laugh, a high pitched tone of joy and bit his lip, and then he lost all control. Because that's what she did to him, she threw him out of balance and out of control and she didn't even know how much, this Wolf-girl, this Alpha of his.


	15. Wolf Broken

The air was chill and brisk as she walked through the woods that surrounded the campus. It was night but something had told her to come outside, something had urged her to come outside, so- knowing it was her Wolf's instincts- she had grabbed her coat and left. Rhydian had been asleep in her bed and he'd only stirred when she left, the boy could sleep for England. Something made a noise to the right of her, and she didn't have to look to know it was Malory, the Wolf, not the girl. Her coat a pale white slicked with silver, it probably made her invisible within the snowy wilderness of her home.  
"Hey, Mal," she spoke to the Wolf that was trotting up beside her.  
"Hey yourself," she replied, switching from forms with fluid ease, "Couldn't sleep?" Her hands were in her pockets, odd for the girl who never seemed cold.  
"Something woke me up."  
"Yeah, me too." It must not have been a coincidence that they were both woken, not when it was only the two Alphas that had sensed it first. Malory looked at her side long, the same thoughts flashing in her eyes. Had they been wolves, their hackles would have been raised.

She didn't really know which direction they were walking in, but both of then remained silent, letting the instinct- their instincts as pack leaders- guide them. She could smell something now, could make out a scent that was becoming increasingly stronger, and it was wrong. It made her bare her teeth, it made Malory bare hers. Then they were wolves and that scent came flooding into their senses. Wrong, wrong, wrong. From the side of them, another Wolf joined, another Alpha, Thomas. The human in her bit down on the challenge her Wolf perceived. After all, regardless of this being his territory, they were still Alphas, three of them all in one place, two who were still foreign Alphas to her. But they didn't get too close to each other, even running beside one another, because if one so much as snapped at the other, there would probably be carnage. Instead they ran as three but united nonetheless, because whatever that was before them, it had all of them on high alert of a threat.

She had never seen Thomas as a Wolf before. When they ran on the full moon, they ran as separate packs, only occasionally would Malory's pack and her own run together, but still never on a full moon. He was huge, though. the largest wolf she had ever seen and his coat was almost all silver. He was a bullet through the forest, darting through without stopping, without slowing. Had she not been so fast, she would have easily fallen behind. As it was, Malory seemed like she might slow any second, the only thing urging her speed was the threat before them and the challenge beside her. Out here, she could use eolas, all of them could, but it was made almost useless with no pack running with her, so they were all relying on their basic senses. Then it hit them. Malory was the first to stumble, her senses catching the scene before her or Thomas, and were it not for the keen reaction of the Wolf, she would have lost her footing and fallen, maybe rolled into the nearby tree. Thomas and her were already slowing by the time Malory eventually did catch herself. From her right, Malory whimpered at the sight before them, echoed immediately by her, Thomas didn't move a muscle. What they had been expecting, it hadn't been this. The sight that lay before them, it would give her nightmares for years to come. A Wolfblood lay amongst the leaves and the trees, sprawled out on its side. In any other situation, she might have been able to look at it as resting, but she couldn't do that now, not when it's blood coated the life around them. Not when she could smell the copper tang in the air, flooding her nose and making her want to wretch, when she could see the dark liquid on the ground and the leaves and the trees. She couldn't even tell the colour of the Wolfbloods coat. Silently, as to not disturb the space, Thomas crept forward, his footsteps light on the earth, his nose twitching, smelling past the scent of the blood to the information beneath. This was a foreign Wolfblood, unknown to all of their packs. But worse than that, there was one more scent, another unknown Wolfblood. Only with the second scent, there was no blood, the only evidence it had been there was on the body. This had been a fight, not just a fight, this had been a slaughter. Malory was whining again, walking in circles around the area and Thomas, he was just staring at the Wolfblood.

"Thomas. Malory." She had changed, right now, she didn't want the thoughts of the Wolf, could not listen to its cries for justice and punishment. The other two looked at her before they shifted back.  
"We need to bury her," Thomas said, his eyes unmoving from the Wolf before them. _Her_.  
"The ceremony-" she started. Malory wasn't saying anything, her lips narrowed into a straight line, her eyes grieving but hard.  
"After we find whoever did this to her." She nodded. After justice was met, then they would lay the Wolfblood to peace. "You should go, both of you." He said, his eyes finally looking to her. Malory opened her mouth to interject. "Please, you don't need to see this." It was not an order from an Alpha, but a request and a plea. She nodded, heart aching at the sadness in his eyes before she turned and ran, four legs hitting the earth and not stopping. Not even looking to see if Malory was behind her. Changing only when she hit the border between the campus and the woods, and not stopping as she leapt on four legs and dropped on two. She wasn't seeing, her vision was blurred, she didn't even notice he was there until she crashed into him, solid and warm. He grabbed her, wrapping his arms around her, as she wept. Her sobs loud in her ears. Rhydian carried her back to her room where she threw up until there was nothing left inside of her. And that night, he held her all night as she shuddered with a cold she couldn't shake.


	16. Wolf Out

It had been two days since she had found the Wolfblood, two more days until the end of term. That's when they would start hunting, or so Malory said. All the Wolfbloods in the area, all those in the campus, there was an air around them now, an intensity that set them apart from all others. Rhydian had seen, of course he had, and he was angry... really angry. But she didn't bother to calm him, how could she when she understood that anger so well, when she could feel the Wolf beneath thrumming with anticipation and snarling at the thought of retributon? They were all of them more animal now, in their human skins, than they had ever been.  
"Ceri is getting the next flight out," he spoke to her, he was moving again. For the past two days, he hadn't stopped. Tapping fingers, shaking his foot, bouncing knees, always always moving, like he couldn't contain whatever was building up inside.  
"I've already told Thomas." After all, no one she had ever met knew wild Wolfbloods better than Ceri.  
"Who's Ceri?" She turned to Malory, as she walked in, a smile on her face at Rhydian's jump of surprise.  
"Rhydian's mum, a wild Wolfblood."  
"Wild?" She exclaimed as she fell onto the bed with a grace that wasn't really all human.  
"You haven't met a wild Wolfblood?" Rhydian asked. It surprised her that Malory shook her head, considering where they lived, she had just presumed that wild packs would be more common.  
"No, what's the point of being wild when we can get houses with the wild on our doorstep." She didn't quite understand the logic of that but in a way, she understood. Out here, she could be both human and Wolfblood whenever she wanted, and it wasn't suspicious. "What are they like?" She asked, doing that thing again, the thing that made you want to tell her.  
"They're like us-" she paused, "only, they have all these customs. It's like you're a Wolf, but you're still human and living in the wild-" she had no idea how to explain it.  
"You're free," Rhydian finished for her, "but you're bound by pack law." She could practically see the wheels turning behind Malory's eyes as she fell onto her back, pushing Rhydian out of the way. She made a small laugh from where she sat clear of Malory.  
"I think I like it here too much for that," was all she said, "and I'll like it more when that Wolfblood is caught." Malory's lips curled back in a soft snarl and she could feel Rhydian shift and tense, already wound up from Mals words but worse by the threat she could present.  
"We'll find them, you know we will," she tried to calm the temperamental Wolfblood beside her.  
"There's not a place they can hide." And the anger in Rhydian's voice seemed to relax her more than any sweet words could have done.  
"You got that right," the girl smiled with malice, a wicked gleam in her eye. Two more days, the thought echoed in her mind. Two more days and they could sort this out.


	17. Wolf Anger

Ceri had arrived that morning, sweeping past where Maddy stood and embracing Rhydian, putting her hands on his cheek.  
"My boy," she had said in that sing song voice of hers before he pulled her into a tight hug. When Ceri eventually did acknowledge her, her eyes widened. '"Maddy, you look well," was all she had said before embracing her too, but something sparked in her eyes. What it was, she didn't know, but she knew it would drive her mad until she figured it out. Now wasn't the time, though, not as Thomas stepped out of the car he had drove them to the airport in.  
"Mum," Rhydian started, "this is Thomas, he's the Alpha of this territory, the one where we found the Wolf. Thomas-" he made a gesture between the two, "this is my mum, she's here to help." The two adult Wolfbloods watched one another, an animal behind there gazes. Then, Ceri stuck out her hand, a human greeting that Maddy remember her learning. The thought almost brought a smile to her face.  
"It's nice to meet you," Thomas greeted. But all Ceri answered was,  
"Show me where you found her."

The woods were as crisp as the day she had found the Wolfblood, an echo of a night that had haunted her dreams since, and there was a stillness, like the woods were in mourning for the loss of one of its beasts. Ceri said something in a language that wasn't familiar, but the sorrow and respect behind the tone was clear, a blessing for the deceased.  
"A wild Wolfblood knows how to cover it's tracks," she said, and she could see the shoulders of all that was present slump. Malory was there with her brother- James not present because he was running the perimeter around Thomas' borders. In any other circumstances, it would have been disrespectful for a Wolf to run another Alphas territory, but Thomas was allowing it and she knew it was just to put Malory at ease. "By now, it would have been long gone."  
"Would have been?" Thomas asked, the only member of his pack present.  
"You couldn't sense it on her?" She spoke, to no-one in particular as she began moving slowly around the area where the Wolfblood had been. "She wasn't on her own, there was another Wolfblood with her."  
"We didn't notice one, and we haven't seen one," Malory spoke, impatience in her voice.  
"It's a little harder to notice, its scent is so familiar to this one. It wasn't a mature Wolfblood. It was a cub, her cub. And I think it escaped. Which means whoever did this-" she placed her hand to the floor, "might still be around searching for the cub." A deep rumble of growls shook the air around them, an instinct none of them could hold down. Because when it came to cubs, it was their nature to be protective, it was a wolf's nature. Cubs were cherished.  
"We have to find it," she didn't know who she was talking about, the cub or the wild Wolfblood, but her voice broke with the emotion her Wolf wouldn't let her suppress.  
"Agreed. And I'll be staying until you do, if that is okay with Thomas," Ceri spoke, determination in her voice, but also a question, answered by Thomas' nod.  
"I need to get back to my pack, I'll have everyone scouring these woods come nightfall. Meet me in the clearing if you wish to join." And with that, the group disbanded. Thomas running for his pack, Malory running for an entirely different reason, for release, with Sam chasing after her.  
"Get in touch with your parents, Maddy," Ceri started, "It wouldn't help to have more Wolfbloods with us. For now, I'll try track the scents here," she said before darting away into the forest, her nose keen enough without the need for four legs.  
"You heard her," Rhydian said, arm wrapping around her waist, "let's get moving." There was an anticipation in his voice, a dark kind of anticipation that she understood completely. A cub. Her mind was reeling with thoughts that she struggled to separate one from another. But a cub. She just prayed they would find the young Wolfblood in time..


	18. Wolf Hunt

That night, the woods bared down on them, the clearing too small for the creatures it held. So many Wolfbloods together in one space, so much emotion roaring through her senses. It made her shake with adrenaline. She could never have imagined this. There were three groups, four packs, come together for one purpose. She watched, her eyes flicking around the many faces, watching their expressions, meeting their eyes, listening to their words and their growls and the fiercness of the wolves. Darkness surrounded them but the moon lit them up. Something shifted from the side of her and she realised her mum was moving to stand in front, her dad pulling her back before anyone noticed. This was not a place for their humans, this was not the time for motherly protection, this was a place for creatures to roam and to rule, the custom of the pack was crucial here. She was Alpha, protector and leader of her pack; not even Rhydian was touching her right now.  
"Brothers. Sisters." Thomas spoke out to the crowd gathered and the hush that decended the clearing chilled her. Not because of the quiet, but because of the power that shook the air around her, that shook her Wolf to its core, primal and ancient. "You are aware of what needs to be done tonight, what we are searching for?" A series of growls filled the surroundings, gutteral and animal even from human lips. "The groups will run in fours. And we will leave no area uncovered." She moved then, walking up to Ceri, a silent message to follow in her eyes, before coming to stand beside Thomas. And when she spoke, it was to every Wolfblood in the clearing and it was without fear.  
"This is Ceri, she is of her own pack but she is a friend who is here to help." She gestured Rhydians mum forward with a wave of her hand, "Ceri?" It felt like she was on an edge, that with any wrong move in this clearing and it would end in a bloodbath, so she was balancing on an edge of power and formality, a wolf in human skin, acting civil but roaring beneath. She could see the twitching of the other Wolfbloods before her, wolves that were not her pack, that were a danger and a threat, but she didn't allow herself to be scared, _couldn't_ allow herself to be scared.  
"The scent you are looking for will be hard to track, it is all around these woods. But the other, the cub, I was unable to find any trace of it. My guess is, this cub has travelled through one of the many streams or lakes here. It could be miles away now but you know this territory, you stand a better chance at finding these places and picking up its scent. I believe it will be avoiding any town and will therefore be finding food within the forests, any carcass you find may be a clue. However, just in case, I ask that some groups check the towns. If anyone comes in contact with the adult Wolfblood, stay behind and track its movements, signalling for help. Our Alphas will come to aid." As one, the Wolfbloods looked to the Alphas, to her, to Thomas, Malory, Rhydian, her mum, and as one, the Alphas nodded. "The same goes for the young Wolfblood. We do not want to scare the child," Ceri finished, before stepping back and letting her, Malory and Thomas gather before the Wolfbloods. She could see Ceri walk around to her parents and Rhydian at the back of the crowd where her pack and Malorys stood beside each other. Thomas uttered something and his pack began to change, to her credit and Malorys neither one of them flinched. There must have been thirty wolves that night, all together. It was the largest group of wolves she had ever seen in one place and suddenly, the atmosphere grew much more tense. Still, she held her ground. After a moment, the wolves began to split, guided by words and gestures from Thomas, until the only wolves that remained were her pack and Malorys. They had already met the previous night to decide who they would run with, though Rhydian hadn't seemed happy with the conclusion.  
"I'll be fine," she told him, when he placed his head to hers.  
"I know," he sighed into her, before pressing his lips to her head and running off with Sam and her parents, leaving her alone with Malory, James and Ceri.  
"Are you ready?" She spoke. In answer, the people around her became people no longer, and wolves answered her words with voices of their own, with lupine smiles, she returned the look with her own snarling canines. Then they ran, her senses flaring, surrounded by a pack that wasn't her own but that still felt familiar, they urged each other on, knocking each other one way and another to guide them. But she allowed it, just as Malory did, because this was not about pack and rules, this was a search for something that united all of their needs, for justice and for the safety of the young cub. And, just like it agreed, the forest opened up before them, wide and pulling, as though it supported the wild beasts it kept, as though the forest too called for justice for the scene it had witnessed and the cub it was hiding. The hunt had begun.


	19. Wolf Bleed - Rhydian's Perspective

Something had gone wrong, he could feel it, he knew it as the crawling down his spine, as his fur standing on end, as his ears pricking and his tail straightening, it was his instincts, his gut. Something was wrong, and when he used eloas, he knew that something was Maddy. There she was, her, Malory, James and his mum, wolves prowling the forest. They were low, so low down their stomachs traced the floor, they were stalking. And Maddy was restless, so restless and so strong. He watched as her and Malory led, as James and his mum edged away from them. This was Alphas in their hunt. He watched as they seperated, surrounding something too far for him to see but close enough that Maddy had sensed them before the others. He was already racing to her, or trying to, he was searching for her trail, the rest of his pack and group running beside him. Maddys mum veered right and he followed, trusting that she would always be able to find her cub. The wind tore before them, the earth flew up behind them and the trees blurred beside them. Everything was fast, so fast. But where she was, where Maddy was, there was an eery calm. The birds still called, undisturbed by the prowling beasts, but he could hear other voices now. A child... and a man. He knew then what they were racing towards, who they were racing towards, and he didn't think it was possible he could run any faster. She was in danger and though he knew she was strong and fast, his blood - his Wolfblood- ran cold at the idea of her in harms way. Maddy's dad was leading now, and he had never seen the Wolf move so fast before, but it wouldn't be enough because they were so far away, from every pack. They had moved where no pack was, had done it to cover more ground, and hours into the search they had finally found the cub. But they had put themselves in risk doing that, even though they had two Alphas. Maddy was close now, so close she could see them and Malorys eyes across from her, where she had come behind the two. And what she saw, what he saw, it pushed every thought out of his head but for run. Run, run, _run_. Because there, in that small clearing hidden within a cluster of trees was a girl about nine and a man, holding her bruising arm. Through Maddys eyes, he heard the girl whisper.  
"Please," her voice cracked with a sob. It made his Wolf panic and it made Maddy tense, but she was watching Malory. Both waiting for a signal from the other, which came when the man raised his free hand above the girls head. Malory flew out of the bushes, seperating the girl from the man, all feral and threatening. But Maddy, she did the opposite. Walking with calm ferocity, she was hunter incarnate, she was Wolf and she was pure, undiluted power. And when she entered the clearing, the man stopped snarling at Malory, he stopped being a man altogether. A wolf stood in his place, large, larger than any wolf he had ever met but Thomas, and menacing. This wasn't just a wild Wolfblood, this was more than that, a Wolfblood that did not bind himself to pack custom or Wolfblood history. This was just wild and animal and wrong. They were in danger. But Maddy kept going, calm and angry, not needing to look to know that Ceri and James were stalking behind her or that Malory was standing over the young girl. Then something tipped that calm over the edge, the girl. When she saw the man change, she let out a muffled scream and the fear, the terror that laced her voice, filled his senses and the senses of every Wolfblood watching. But the male Wolfblood, he just smiled, a small, viscious, lupine smile that only grew bigger when the child said, "Daddy." And that tipped Maddy over the edge. He watched as she curled her lips back in a snarl, pride mixing with his anger and fear as she forced the animal a step back without yet being close to him. She snapped her teeth at him, edging forward, not stopping, not backing. Malory mimicked her from where she stood over the crying child.

Then the Wolfblood ran, turning tail and escaping through the woods. But Maddy was angry, he could see it in her every movement, knew it as he knew her. But he was too far away to stop it from happening, too far away to stop her. She ran. Leaving Malory and her group behind. She ran after the Wolf, and suddenly he was changing course too, so fast that her parents were behind him in moments. He watched her gain on the Wolfblood, her eyes fixed on the target before her as they navigated the forest with deadly speeds and killer instincts. Maddy was faster than him and faster than the Wolfblood before her. She would catch up and he needed to be there when that happened, because the same thing that made her a dart in the woods was the same thing he could use against her- her small size. He wanted to howl for her, needed to tell her to stop. But she wasn't stopping, she wasn't slowing, not even as she crossed the border out of Thomas' territory and into free land. She was so full of anger that she hadn't even noticed the Wolfblood slow for her, and had he been human, he would have screamed; at his helplessness, at her, _for_ her, at the danger, at everything that could hurt her and everything that was stopping him from being with her now. Then she was upon him, so close she need only jump to sink her teeth into him, but before she could, he was turning. And the look in his eyes then, he would remember and hate that look forever. The Wolfblood turned at her, teeth gleaming, eyes filled with predatory hunger, with maddness and evil... but also with mocking humour. A game. This hunt was a game to him and he had led her away purposefully, had slowed purposefully, because the look in his eye told him that this Wolfblood would enjoy whatever he was going to do next. This was fear, coursing through his veins now, pure unadulterated fear, because this wasn't like when Isaac had cornered her- he knew that now- this was serious and life threatening and she was in real danger. The Wolfblood clamped his teeth into her fur, and he couldn't tell where he had bitten, only that it had been her chest, and he prayed, prayed to everything that it wasn't her throat. He was gaining now, breaking out of the forest and into the open space. He could see them, see Maddy on the floor, struggling beneath the Wolfblood male. His mind went blank as he rushed at them. The wolf had already let go of her before he got to them, racing into the distance. But he ignored him, because he couldn't see passed the blood on the floor. He didn't know where it was gushing from, her coat so matted with it. Then he was human again, speaking to her in a hushed voice, trying to keep the panic at bay as he placed his hand at her neck to stop the bleeding. He wasn't sure whether he was reassuring Maddy or himself, but when she looked at him, his heart broke. The pain in her eyes, the worry, the silent reassurance and the love there, everything was directed at him, every emotion just for him.

"It's going to be okay, Mads." He could feel the hot tears trailing down his face. "It's going to be okay. I love you." He was repeating himself, over and over for an eternity until a truck pulled up beside them and Thomas jumped out. He couldn't stop the snarl that escaped his lips as ths man came up beside them.  
"Let me see, Rhydian," the man said. And his name, it reminded him that this was Thomas and that he would help. He leaned back slightly, letting the elder wolf in. "She's going to be okay, Rhydian. But we need to stop this bleeding now." Those words, those five words - she's going to be okay- they winded him but at the same time, they let him breath again. "She's going to be okay," the man said again, looking to the distance. It was only then that Rhydian noticed the two wolves that had exited the forest. Maddy's parents. "Now, Rhydian, get me that box from the back of the truck." The urgency in the Thomas' voice made him move, made his shaky legs stand. _She's going to be okay_ , he repeated over and over, trying to ignore the worry and panic that threatened to take hold.


	20. Wolf Heal

When she woke, it was in a strange bed, it was in a place that was not her own. She would have panicked if not for the Wolf that was curled up next to her.  
"Rhyd-" she whispered, but was almost blinded by the pain that shot through her, nauseating and sharp. It got his attention though, as the Wolf became a boy.  
"Maddy?" The tone of his voice crushed her more than any pain would. She blinked back tears but she didn't really know what they were for. She couldn't speak to him, she knew how much it would hurt and how bad it was even before he lifted his fingers to graze her chest. She closed her eyes with the pain even though his touch was light. "Maddy," he just repeated. And his eyes, she watched the way his emotions shot through them, almost too fast to keep up. Surprise, relief, joy, sadness, despair, love, anger. He was feeling it all and because of that, she felt it too. She lifted her hand to his, trying to reassure him without words, trying to ask him questions she couldn't speak. "A day. You've been out a day. Can you remember what happened?" He asked, his eyes never leaving hers, even as anger flashed through them. Of course she could remember, she remembered it as the pain on her chest and at her neck, she remembered the teeth that had sunk into her, had remembered the look on Rhydian's face as he held her, but what was worse was the memory of the girl in the woods. That wolf, that wild and untameable wolf, had been the childs father, had killed her mother and had hunted her. When she had heard that, the girls frail and fearful voice, something had snapped inside of her, and she had known Malory had felt it too. So it was either she chase after the Wolfblood, or Malory. In that situation, she had made the decision to not have it be her friend. But also because she was faster and she had thought she had more of a chance of catching him or escaping. It was that very thought that had made her blind to his plan. She would do it again, though, she knew she would, just for another chance to get him. The Wolf inside called for justice. "You can't move, Mads, you can't. Don't look at me like that, everything will be okay if you rest. Thomas has everyone still looking. Malory is still looking. And your mum and dad are taking care of Ally. That's the girl, Alyassa. You saved her, Mads. But please, please don't do something like that again," his voice broke and cracked and then it was fear that flooded his gaze. Fear for her, and she recognised it, had seen it in his face when she had been lying there unsure whether she would make it and trying to tell him she loved him just in case she didn't. She reached her hand up then, to touch his cheek and he held it against him, leaning into her palm where she could feel warm tears.

She slept more, through the night and only waking up somewhere between morning and noon. Rhydian was still with her when she woke but he wasn't alone. Her parents had come in, her mum had sat down on the side of this unfamiliar bed- that she had learned was a guest room in Thomas' home- and her dad stood awkwardly beside her, a weird look in his eyes and a frown on his face.  
"A Wolfblood heals fast, you know that. But it's a little different when the Wolfblood is seriously hurt by another, it takes a bit longer to heal. Segolia sent out doctors and they said it will be at least another week before you're able to talk again." Her mum was listing facts, she was retelling things she had once been told and she knew this was one of her habits when she was stressed or anxious. Usually, at this point, her dad would make a joke. But he remained beside the bed, uncharacteristically stoic. Rhydian was at the door and she was trying to look at him for help to diffuse the tense situation. She just wanted to tell them that she was sorry, wanted to tell them that she loved them and hear it in return. Rhydian had his head down, avoiding her gaze because he knew, he knew her enough to know that she would ask him to fix this, and knew her enough to know when she should do it herself. She would have sighed if she could. Her mum was telling her other things now, about the girl called Ally. Who, apparently, was quite taken with Malory and who had managed to survive in the wild this past week on her own, but who wasn't speaking to anyone about what had happened. She stored the information in her head for later, because right now that wasn't what she wanted to hear. So, against all the pain, and her body's complaints, she leaned up and reached out to hug her mum. She wanted to say 'I'm sorry', if only she could. Her mum was crying then, and her dads face softened as he leaned down to embrace them both. From a distance, she heard the door quietly close as Rhydian left.

"I was so scared," her mum said, stroking her hair. "I couldn't see what had happened, I couldn't make it in time," her mum was sobbing violently now and the reverberations made the pain spark but she kept hold of her family.  
"Please," her dad started, pain in his voice, and she realised that that was what his face had been, it had been a pained look as he stood over his daughter with a hospital drip in her arm. "Don't you ever do that again, Madeline Smith." It echoed Rhydian's earlier words but she didn't mind, she didn't really plan on being bitten again.  
"You know," her mum said, leaning back out of the clump they were in, "I think that's the first time Rhydian has left this room." She would have laughed if she could have but she settled for a smile. Her parents were with her for an hour before she began to drift back into unconcsciousness. Her dad told her it was her body wanting to concentrate on healing and, honestly, she had no argument against listening to it. But just before she fell into that inviting darkness, she heard her dad say,  
"We love you, Mads." And Rhydian came back into the room.

The following week, many people came to visit her. Her parents were a constant and Malory came everyday and everyday insisted of trying to shove food into her. Thomas visited out of concern and with questions of his own that she wasn't able to give answers to just yet. Ceri came a few times, the first to look her over but she was sure that after that, she only came to see Rhydian, who refused to travel further than the ensuite when she had no visitors. He came in two forms, Wolf and human. During the day, he would usually sit and talk to her, silently communicate in a way only he was able, and a night he would lay with her, all fur and warmth. Over protective as he was being, it comforted her and she allowed it just as everyone around her allowed it, because it was just part of who he was. And on the day when she finally felt able to speak, her first words were to him.  
"I love you," she said, her words muffled by his chest where she lay curled into him. She could feel him release a sigh of relief that ruffled her hair.  
"I love you, too," he replied, a murmer of his lips above her.


	21. Wolf Strength

It was late when she woke at the scratching of claws in her head, her Wolfblood thrumming for release. She had been caged in this room too long, college had already begun again and the moon had already changed it's shape, but she still hadn't healed, not fully. She raised her arm, trapped under Rhydians, to feel the scars at her neck. It still gave her bad dreams. But tonight, they didn't matter, not with the wolf roaring in her head. It reminded her of the night so long ago, where she ran the beaches and the hillside with Rhydian when she first changed. She would have woken him up to run with her tonight but he was exhausted, she was forcing him to keep going to college but he was still running from here to there everyday. She'd tried to get him to stay there but it had been a useless attempt and really, she hadn't wanted him to leave her (she didn't think her parents did either). So instead, she delicately moved out of his embrace and made it slowly to the window. She could have used the stairs but the Wolf in her wanted out now, and the girl just wanted to be strong again, so tired of being weak in bed. The window was already open, he had opened it so she felt less caged, and the thought made her smile and look back to his lightly snoring figure spread across the bed. Then she jumped, and the land almost made her shout in pain as the vibrations rolled through her body. Then the cool night hit her, a force of wildness that called out to her blood. She looked around, at the rolling earth, cold on her feet now paws, at the line of trees, inviting even in the dark of night, and the wildlife calling around, unafraid of the predator in the shadow of the moon. She ran, straight for that beckoning woods, straight for those looming mountains in the far distance. She ran because every step made her feel stronger, more herself, free. Because a wolf isn't meant to be caged. Because she wasn't meant to be caged.

She had no idea how long she had been running and hunting and chasing, but as she loped through the trees,.she could see the sky lightening. She was covered with dirt and leaves and all the wildness of the wood but the Wolf didn't care, not when it was strong and wild and healed. The girl however, she cared a little. So when she found the hidden rocky pools, she didn"t hesitate to jump in. The cold of the morning didn't bother her skin, she was warm, warm as though she was still wearing the fur she had just shed. She sank into the water, drowning herself in the morning that the woods provided, the mossy rocks, the bright flowers, the soft ground of dirt and leaves, the water pooling from above her, filling the lake and making everything seem magical and vibrant. It reminded her of the Fae culture she had learned of in her Occult Studies class. But when she lifted her head out the water, something else caught her attention, something much more beautiful. He was sat there, laughing down at her, his hair light in the sun.  
"Morning," he grinned, a playful grin with happiness flooding his features. She smiled, remembering she'd left him last night. Had he woke up in panic?  
"Morning yourself," she started, moving over to the edge of the pool to where he sat swinging his legs. "Look," she grinned, baring her neck to him, "all healed." Before she had chance to register his movement, he was taking her chin in his hand. A sigh of relief leaving his lips.  
"You weren"t sneaky, you know. You really are terrible at trying to be." A soft laugh sounded around her as he lifted his hand away. She scowled, thinking about his snoring and how quiet she had been. But she grinned, a wicked thought flashing through her head, and surprise flashed across his face a momemt too late as she grabbed his leg and pulled him into the cold pool. He barked a shout and she laughed furiously as he splashed in but she took hold of him.  
'You found me though, didn't you?" She smiled at him.  
'Madeline," he laughed, but his face had a seriousness to it, he meant every word he said, "I will always find you." And his smile didn't leave his face and he cupped a strand of her wet hair behind her ear and kissed her.

They didn't return until noon, not till after Rhydian had shown her in every way possible how much he had been holding back these past few weeks. But returning to the house this afternoon was necessary, she was going to meet Alyassa and she was going to make plans to catch the Wolfblood that had done this to her, and Rhydian, he didn't even need to say it, she could feel his need for vengence radiating off him at the mention of the wild Wolfblood. And when they returned, it had seemed everyone else had the same plan because she hear from the treeline the amount of Wolfbloods within the house. And she smiled, touching at her neck and only feeling smooth skin. She was strong again now, and she had been aching for this hunt for weeks.


	22. Wolf Return - Rhydian's Perspective

He couldn't keep the smile from his face, even as they entered the house, he was still grinning down at her like an idiot.  
"Maddy," a voiced hurled across the large expanse of the room they entered, followed abrubtly by a tall brunette. She barrelled right to them, taking Maddy away from his side and into an embrace. Malory's tattoos always caught his eyes and struck at his curiosity but he hadn't bothered to ask about them yet. "You're okay," she breathed, and the relief in her voice made him happy; she was Maddy's friend.  
"Gone with the necklace? Shame. I liked them, they gave you an edge," Isaac said from where he was perched in a seat before them, eyes darting to Maddys neck where a ring of white scars had been just hours before. Had it been a few weeks ago, before the attack, before he had come to realise what kind of person Isaac actually was behind that sarcastic façade, he would have hit him for his words. Instead, he just came and sat down in the seat across from him, waiting for the other Wolfbloods to come. He loved Thomas' home, he'd told Maddy this before, but it was the kind of home he realised he had always wanted. He pictured himself in a place like this, a place where even when he was all alone, the house would never feel empty, a place where there seemed to be a living warmth that exuded from the walls, a home like this that had stood for centuries sheltering Wolfbloods of the past. And Wolfbloods of the present.  
"Who else are we expecting?" He asked Isaac as Malory and Maddy came to sit close. The seats in the room had been arranged to face each other -and he couldn't help thinking that reflected something of Thomas' personality- and beside them was a book shelf and large television where he was sure a fireplace would have usually stood.  
"Ceri was here not long ago but she disappeared somewhere, said she'll be back later. Maddy, your parents rang earlier but you were-" he paused. Isaac actually paused and it was it took everything he had not to laugh at the uncomfort in his friends face. "You were out so I said you'd phone back later. They told me to tell you that they are coming back as soon as possible. And that just leaves dad and Aly," he reeled them off on his fingers.  
"She's been waiting to meet you," Malory smiled. These past few weeks the girl had grown quite attached to Mal. He'd seen her too, sure, but he knew he hadn't been able to greet her properly when his mind had been so full of Maddy. He hadn't been able to do much properly, especially college. He looked over to where she was perched at the other end of the long sofa and he could see her eyes filling with thoughts and questions.  
"I could have met her sooner, you know?" These past couple of weeks Maddy had been walking around again and for the most part healed, it made him think that the only reason Mal hadn't fetched Alyassa to meet her was the scars on her neck. After all, the girl wore similar scars from the same man. Malory shifted in her seat. "Was it the-" Maddy touched her neck to where the flesh had once been brutally disfigured, figuring out for herself the reason she hadn't met Alyassa already. Malory just nodded, guilt in her eyes as she watched the understanding in Maddy's face. Hell, even he felt guilty and he wasn't even sure why. Maybe it was because of how everyone had been tiptoeing around her like she was a broken lamb for the past few weeks, maybe it was because she'd been treated like she was weak when he knew she was anything but.  
"Sorry, Mads, but they were pretty nasty looking," Isaac smiled, leaning back into the chair, arms raised to his head, looking for all the world the sarky little Alpha's son he liked to act.  
"I thought you said you liked them," Maddy grinned, any looming atmosphere in the air disippating with that beautiful smile of hers.  
"Oh me? Definitely. I dig a woman with scars... and tats," he winked at Mal and she hit him, never one to hold back. The sound the strike made him wince, even as he began to laugh at the group around him.  
"You deserved that," he spoke to Isaac, watching as the Wolfblood gripped his arm and scowled at Malory, whose wicked green eyes shone humour.

They had fallen into easy conversation when Thomas walked in and a hush descended on the room.  
"Food's cooking," the older Wolfblood smiled in greeting, and usually someone would have replied but everyone seemed to be watching Maddy who had her gaze fixed on Alyassa.  
"Hi, Thomas," Maddy smiled, breaking the long moment of silence, "and you must be Alyassa?" There was a question in her tone and he wondered if it was her way of trying to get the quiet girl to speak but the girl just nodded anyway, following Thomas as he came to stand beside the large arm chair. There was a turmoil of thoughts shooting through Maddy's mind, he could see them flashing in her eyes, but there was something haunting her and he knew she was remembering the scene in the forest. It made him reach out across the seat and grab her hand in his. He almost sighed in satisfaction as he watched the thoughts begin to drain from her mind as she relaxed. "How are you doing?" She asked the girl but she got no reply. He caught Malory's eyes as she watched Alyassa and there was a look of concern in them. "Alyassa?" Maddy asked again, everyone watching the young child for any signs that she might respond or flee. But after a second of silence, she began crying. For the first time that anyone had seen, she let loose loud broken sobs. Eveyone Wolf in the room stilled, stilled like predators on a hunt. Stilled with panic, because that's what their Wolves were doing, they were panicking at the sound of the cub crying. He couldn't help but feel that if Maddy's parents were here, they'd know what to do.  
"Alyassa?" Thomas spoke, softer than he'd ever thought the man capable, but it only made the crying louder. There were tears rushing down her cheeks now and she brought her hands up to cover her eyes. Then Maddy was moving, too fast for him to realise before she was already kneeling before the girl, hands grasping her upraised arms, pulling them away from her face and embracing her. She'd moved to her before Malory had even managed to turn her head to were she was sat just moments ago, and now she was whispering hushed noises to the girl.  
"It's okay, it's okay," she repeated, reassuring her. And all he could do was watch, unsure what to do. Even as the girl began to mutter apologies in between sobs, even as Maddy turned to face him, the child crying in her arms and tears falling down her own face. All he knew was that he was never going to let that wild Wolfblood hurt either of them again. And the determination must have shown on his face because Maddy was smiling up at him from where she knelt on the floor. "It's going to be okay," she whispered to the child. "You don't have to feel sorry, you don't have to feel guilty, you don't have to feel scared. He's not going to hurt you any more. He's not going to hurt either of us ever again. I'm okay and you're okay." Then she looked straight into him, and he was sure those words were just as much for him as they were for Alyassa. It seemed to calm them both, the Wolf inside him and the girl in her arms whose crying eventually began to subside enough that he could hear the bubbling of pans from the room beyond.


	23. Wolf Track

"I've been tracking him for days, but he's not making it easy. Just when I think I've picked him up, the trail goes cold." Ceri was frowning as she spoke, arms crossed at her chest and hands balled up into fists. She didn't know if the woman was hiding claws or not but she knew she was definitely agitated; she'd seperated herself from the rest of the Wolfbloods present, choosing to lean against the far wall than to sit beside them. She understood why. Time was crucial here, any moment now he could disappear. But some part of her also believed that to Ceri, this had become a challenge, hunter to huntress. She could see the thoughts churning behind her eyes everytime she spoke of tracking the wild Wolfblood. To herself though, it made her angry that she had been so weak for so long unable to search, that she had let Rhydian stay beside her even knowing that he might have been useful in searching, that this Wolfblood was still here because he wanted Alyassa so badly. Something clicked in her mind then, a lingering thought that she hadn't had the sense to ask until now, something her mind was telling her was vital but she just couldn't figure out how.  
"Do we know why he's after Alyassa?" The questions sparked dozens more but frowns and head shakes were the only reply.  
"We've asked Aly, but she just doesn't know. Poor girl," Malory sighed, silent anger lacing her tone. After her episode, Malory had taken the child to the room she'd been occupying until today- she could here her soft snoring from above. For some reason, she was hearing a lot more lately, everything that little bit clearer to her senses. She made a mental note to speak to Thomas about it.  
"It's one of the many questions we'll ask Him when we find him." Ceri's threatening tone rang out across the room and Rhydian shifted beside her.  
"If we find him," Isaac scowled, his words near silent but loud enough that they could all hear as the doubt spread into the room.  
"We will find him, son. That I am certain. There's a reason he hasn't left yet." Thomas paused for a fleeting moment, remembering the reason the wild Wolfblood still lingered, before continuing. "And Ceri, you told me you were beginning to understand his movements, correct?" She lifted her gaze to Ceri's who was looking at Thomas, affirmation in her eyes. "Well show me, show us where you think he'll be, what paths he'll take, or likes to take, show us where he has and hasn't been and has yet to go." As he spoke, he moved to one of the bookshelves lining the room, pulling out a large map of the area and laying it before them all with a pen. "Please?" He asked. It felt surreal to her, as Ceri began to draw and speak. She became lost in a haze of words and markings, her mind constantly reeling with strategies that Thomas began laying out before them and the number of wolves that would play a part in this. At some point, Rhydian's arm had come around her waist and she had shifted closer to him. He was hovering over the map, sat at the edge of his seat.  
"Why there?" Isaac pointed to an area that Ceri had circled at a seemingly random point.  
"Prey," Rhydian spoke from beside her without looking up at Isaacs questioning face. "Look here, this is where the deer are right now, this is where we see them the most. But they aren't going to stay there, they'll move here. Right now, there's been a lot of trails of him around this area, right?" He pointed to an area marked out where the deer were now. "So it makes sense that he's hunting them. Then why not move when they do, that way to anyone looking at a map, it might seem like a completely random move." She almost smiled. Almost. At the sheer brilliance of that mind his that she loved so much and so strongly and his arm tightened as though he could feel her thoughts. Isaac just huffed a sigh, as though pretending not to be impressed. It was Malory who commented on Ceri's cleverness. By the time they were done discussing, it was early morning, and the only reason they were done was because they were worn out.

Thomas was placing the map away when Ceri approached where she stood, waiting for Rhydian to grab the things he had left behind upstairs.  
"Does it still hurt?" She asked, her accent thick but a welcome sound that reminded her of her old home. And she didn't know why she said what she did next, maybe because she felt no need to lie to Ceri or to the other Wolfbloods present but when Ceri asked, all she could give was an honest answer.  
"All the time. Only, I know there isn't any physical pain, and it's gone, see?" She touched her neck softly. "But I can't help feeling that there's still pain." It felt like a phantom, like it was there and not there, invisible. Ceri only nodded.  
"If we were in the wild, I'd make a tonic for you. Just something to ease the mind. Because it's in your mind, Maddy. And I know that doesn't make it any less real but it means that you hold the key to healing yourself. It's an internal struggle but you're a survivor, you're a fighter. You're every bit the Wolfblood raised in the wild, do you know that Maddy Smith?" She knew what that meant, what those words were to Ceri. They were an acceptance. She accepted her strength and to her Wolf; that was the only acceptance she really needed. So even in the times they were facing, and the violence that threatened them, she smiled. Because Ceri was right, she would fight this and she would survive, just as she knew that little girl would, she had felt it the moment she had seen those piercing golden eyes of hers, they were cut from the same cloth. And everyone in this room. They were all fighters, they were all survivors, she could sense it as she could feel the clawing in her mind and the howling in her blood. _Wolves, all of them, together._


	24. PART II Wolf See

They were going to go to college. It seemed so mundane, so calm, so at odds with the new reality they were facing. How had she ever been anxious about college when threats like this existed. She was almost ready and it was four in the morning, everyone was asleep. Well, not everyone. She could hear Thomas in the kitchen below, heating milk that somehow she knew was for her. It was with quiet efficiency that she walked through the house. Rhydian hadn't come back from college earlier the day before with her reassurance that she'd join him this morning. So the house was quiet. Alyassa and Thomas the only other residents. But it had been Alyassa that had woken her up, not in reality though, in reality the young girl was fast asleep. But in her subconscious, Alyassa was awake and writhing, she was a ghost in her mind, moving and whirlng, her eyes- her golden golden eyes- illuminating and flashing with every pulse of her heart, haunting her. But worse, it was visions of running, running in a trapped body that, even in her dreams, her Wolf screamed was wrong, was not hers. It was those constant swirling images that woke her, flashes of gold, of trees, of beasts blood, of haunting thoughts and blood curdling fear. Like nightmares but more, that had woken her and made her unable to sleep. And Thomas, he had felt it because he had knocked, so so lightly on the door to her room, just enough to startle her awake, before he had padded away to the kitchen, waiting for her to follow. So she did.  
"Chocolate or coffee?" He asked, calm and soft as he always was. Not needing to act strong to be strong.  
"Chocolate," she replied, choking on her hoarse voice. Had she been screaming? She didn't know. But as Thomas sat and placed that hot drink before her, as she drank, she suddenly realised how dry her mouth and throat were.  
"There's more, don't worry." He didn't patronise her, he didn't speak to her like a child, there was nothing of the sort in his voice. Just a resting mutual respect between them, the way she hoped all Alphas would act but knew they did not. "That's not what I'm worried about and you know that. What's wrong with me, Thomas, you know something is different?" A question, she needed him to explain to her. Because this wasn't the first dream, in fact, she could hardly say the others were dreams considering she had had them during the waking day.  
"You know, Maddy. Already you know." She couldn't help but shake her head, to try get rid of that knowledge, the idea.  
"It's him, isn't it? He's in my head. Is it because he nearly killed me?"  
"Sometimes it happens, sometimes a bond forms between Wolfbloods who have suffered something traumatic. He was the cause of your trauma, he was the cause of that pain and I think that, for whatever reason, that did something to you and created that bond. And Maddy, I think that maybe... maybe he did kill you. At least for a moment, maybe not even a second, but maybe your heart stopped. Because you've noticed, haven't you? Those heightened senses, Maddy that's your Wolf protecting itself." She knew, of course she knew, before he'd even told her, she'd known. Because there wasn't much explanation other than that. But she had needed to hear it, from Thomas.  
"Is there any way...?" She asked, expecting a shake of his head. Instead, a small nod. "Not something permanent, that's something that will go with time, but I can stop the visions, at least for now." That's what she wanted, at least for now. Thomas' house was large, she knew that, and she hadn't bothered to explore. But even if she had she wouldn't have ever found the room he took her to. It was the most remote room in the whole house, far away from prying eyes but still inconspicuous with its smaller door. Honestly, she would have mistaken it for a toilet had she ever seen it. However, when they stepped inside she could see it was much more than that. Ceri would have thrived in here, in what she could only describe as an apothecary. It had wall, ceiling to floor shelves and tables and lights dotted around, every inch covered with supplies and lights. To her, it looked like something an old wizard might keep and she had to bury the thought as she looked at Thomas' back in amusement. Some old wizard. It was reasonable to say that the room was much larger than the door perceived it to be.  
"Thomas, this place is-" he cut her off mid sentence.  
"A vast collection of pack secrets. It's where I collect the ingredients to heal my pack. Old traditional medicine and antidotes passed down through my ancestors." He smiled, moving towards one of the shelves. She didn't know why she half expected him to start rummaging around for herbs and begin mixing and chanting at the large table in the middle, adorned with glass jars and bowls of things that tingles her senses. But he didn't do any of that, he simply reached for a jar on his left, took out a handful of strange smelling roots and dumped them in her palm. "Take these and chew one whenever you feel the vision starting."  
"What does it do, exactly?" She was staring dumbfounded at the root but she didn't care.  
"It'll hide you from him and him from you. It cuts off the sense of any bond. Dangerous really, but handy. Don't worry, it won't harm you, just tastes a little funky." It made her smile, the sound of Thomas, his voice deep and steady and powerful, saying the word 'funky' and she knew it was lack of sleep making her thoughts jumbled so when he locked the door and told her to go to bed, she didn't argue. And the next day, she felt better than she had all week as she set off to her first lesson.


	25. Wolf Here

"Three days," Malory sighed, her breath tangible in the air that had already begun to warm. "Then we can start hunting." Her words were nothing but a murmur in the breeze but they were all Wolfbloods here, gathered on the courtyard grass; herself, Malory, Isaac, Sam and James- everyone except Rhydian. And, as if her friend had read her mind, she asked "Where's Rhydian? Is he still drawing... or whatever it is that he does for art?" It brought her attention back to her friend for a moment. Yes, three days until they could start looking for him, the wild Wolfblood, because it was decided they would go after the upcoming full moon. They couldn't risk attacking, not without that sense of humanity that disappeared with the moon's light. But Rhydian, that's who was on her mind. She'd only been here a few days but already she had noticed his lack of... well, him. She'd asked Malory and the only answer she'd gotten was that he'd been like it since he returned, always with his head sunk into his work. It shouldn't have made her worried but she couldn't help the strange feeling that came with the thought of him, something- she'd realised- that came with the bond between them. They were aware of each other, their wolves understanding what the human in them could not, even when they didn't understand it themselves. She'd tried to ask him but he'd seemed so fine, so normal that she hadn't really known what to ask. But he wasn't with her now, when he usually would have.  
"Yeah, probably," was all she replied. Isaac made some sarcastic comment but she knew the look in their eyes as worry and curiosity, so as Sam laughed she stood to go find him. Because with everything that had happened and everything that would happen, he was her constant and she just hoped that she could be his.

He was perched on the edge of his bed when she walked in without knocking, knowing he would have sensed her. "I'm okay, Maddy," he smiled up at her. That infuriating disarming smile that made her want to believe him, if not for the nagging sense of wrongness that she couldn't ignore.  
"You understand that you can't actually fool me, right? Me?" She let her words escape with confidence, and in any other circumstances they might have been said while joking. But Rhydian knew her, they knew each other and no matter how minor it might be, she wanted him to rely on her the way she had this past month. Because neither of them could deny how hard it had been lately and that just because she was healed and they were back, there wasn't going to be those lingering repercussions. He smiled up at her again, reaching to grab her wrist and pull her down to him.  
"This," he started, his breath whispering past her ear from where she sat beside him, "is what's wrong." He handed her a notebook, one of the many she'd seen littered around this room of his, and she opened it. At first, it was just images of wolves, wolves she recognised as the friends she'd made and grown to care for. Malory standing tall and proud, her ears twitching at a sound in the distance, her pack (Sam and James) behind her. Isaac baring his teeth, not in ferocity but in wolfish playfulness, at the viewer. Then her, so many small drawings of her, human and Wolf. It made her eyes tear up slightly but he didn't touch her, he remained where he was, hands folded in his lap. She touched the edge of the thick paper, and watched from the corner of his eyes as his hands whitened in a tight grip. The next page made her pause, made her hesitant to touch the thick paper, it's face marred with dark lines of graphite. It made her look at him, at his beautiful artists eyes, that saw too much and made him draw images that he couldn't forget because they remembered everything. She reached to touch his face, even as his face blurred from her vision. She had been hurt, yes, she had even died. But he had been hurt too, maybe not physically, but he'd been scarred by what he saw. It showed in his own watering eyes, that met hers without hesitation but still with regret, and it showed on the jagged lines that painted the scene of how he'd seen the wild Wolfblood that day, standing over a dark smudge that must have been her body, and how he'd found her laying in that bed in Thomas' house, unable to move or speak or open her eyes.  
"Why didn't you tell me sooner?" She asked, closing the book, not needing to see anymore. She would look again later, but not now.  
"After everything you'd been through? I didn't want to hurt you, Mads. I just... I couldn't forget, not when I was asleep, not when I was awake." He paused, holding her hand to his face, "I still can't. If only I was faster..." His words pierced her heart like daggers because she could feel and hear the strain of them inside him, what these fears had been doing to him and how helpless he had felt. Because she could hear his own heart hurting and it made her Wolf struggle to be nearer to him. As though closeness could ease the separation that had been between them when she'd been lying there all those weeks, that had been between them as he'd raced to save her, and that had been between them as she healed. He hadn't told her sooner because of everything she'd been through, and not even when her scars had disappeared. He'd had to wait until they had left the confines of Thomas' house, until they were really truly alone. All those weeks that she had been stuck in that bed, he hadn't left her. More importantly, his Wolf hadn't left her, even going to far as to remain in his Wolf skin over night. He'd been unsettled and separated and it had driven his Wolf insane then just as she sought for closeness now. So as she placed the notebook aside, she moved onto his knee, wrapping her arms around his neck, forcing him to read every emotion on her face, forcing him to look at her. This was a talk that they had needed since she had woken but couldn't have, a finality to the events that had happened so that they could move on and focus on what was yet to come.  
"I love you. Do you hear me?" She said, watching his gaze focus on her, watching the Wolf in his eyes focus on her. "Remember that day I had to leave?" Sadness seeped in now as he nodded. "It was one of the worst days of my life. It was the worst day. I didn't want to leave and yet, I ended up travelling so far. So so far that on nights when I couldn't hear the wind or remember the sound of wolves. I used to worry that I was too far away for you to find me and I'd be so scared that I'd never get to see you again." Her own eyes had started to tear up now, heat rising in her cheeks as she continued. "But you found me, Rhydian Morris. An ocean and a world between us and you found me. And I never doubt anymore, because even when I can't hear the wind, I can still hear you. No matter where I am and what happens, I know you're there. Can't you feel it?" She knew he could, knew he could feel that bond as strongly as she could, that frightening and electrifying thrum that bound them to each other in the way that only their wolves truly understood. He nodded, and she watched as his body relaxed, as the tears fell freely but his shaking hands had steadied, as his head fell to rest on her chest, as his breathing became steady and calmed.  
"You're here," he spoke into her skin. "You're here and you're okay, I can feel that even if I can't see that." He lifted his head, an arm reaching around her waist to sit on her back while his other hand lightly touched his fingers to where the scar had been on her neck. "That was the worst day of my life, Maddy. Because even when we were separated, you were alive. This, what he did to you, that threatened all of that. It threatened you. And I felt it, I felt you slipping away and there was nothing I could have done. But even then, I know that I would have found you. I'm okay, Mads. I'm okay." They hadn't spoke about this before, about how it had affected him. But here they were, talking now, ending the torment they had both gone through, even if she still felt the lingering effects. They were quiet for a while, his head resting on her shoulder as she played with his hair, until a light laugh left her  
"There was an awful lot of detail in Malory's picture. I didn't even realise she had a scar there, you must have been looking quite intently to find that one." He groaned at the sound of teasing in her voice, knowing that there wasn't actually any ounce of jealousy in it.  
"Don't start," he said, humour - a sound she hadn't realised she had needed to hear until now- lacing his.  
"No, really, do you find her as beautiful as you drew her?" She let out a fake gasp. "Do I have competition?" A small nip at the crevice where her neck met her shoulders made her shout out and laugh.  
"Not nearly as beautiful as that sound," he paused to look up at her with a wicked grin that made her stomach flutter, "or this one," he said before pulling her towards him. His lips met hers with a slow fiery passion that she had come to expect from him, and she didn't even notice the moan that had escaped her lips until he pulled back and chuckled. "That one right there." Her face must have been red because he was suddenly laughing, a sound she had come to love and cherish. And a sound she would knew she would do anything to hear more of.

Everything would be okay. For the next three days, everything would be fine. If she told herself that, if she could just ignore the nagging sensation that Thomas' root had stopped working, everything would be okay. But the closer the full moon got, the less she could ignore it.


	26. Wolf Gone

Wild; cold; immortal. That's what the woods felt like today. They felt foreign even in her Wolf form, the smell around her just as different. How could it be possible to feel this difference when she was still in the same place? But she knew how. Because it was the same smell and the same feeling she would get when she was in another pack's territory. She was unrecognisable to her own home, she was unrecognisable to herself. Rhydian. She missed him, missed the last time they had been together, when she had held him tightly as he cried about his drawings and the memory of her. He would be remembering her now, she knew. He would be trying hard to contact her, to search for her. It would be in vain. She was no longer his pack now, no longer part of any pack, she was lone. And so was He. She didn't know his name, hadn't learnt it in this past month they had spent together. Mostly because she hadn't yet been able to form words. It had been ages since she'd walked on two legs. From the corner of her eye she could see him moving beside her, a predator in the shadows, far larger than she was, but somehow steadier, calmer. _More experienced_ , she thought, as they stalked their prey. This Wolf, just as foreign as Rhydian now was, teaching her the lay of the land, showing her how to never be weak again. This Wolf, she hated him for what he had done to Alyassa and the threat he posed against the people she cared about. This Wolf whom she would stop, no matter what, the moment she could escape.

-ONE MONTH EARLIER-

It had came in the night, a sharp shooting pain that had crippled her human body, forcing her to curl up as the shaking took hold of her. It was the most painful change of her life and she knew why. It wasn't her changing, it was something else, something that dug itself like a worm into her mind, viscous and intrusive. Her sleep had been rattled by it, her dreams altering the woods where she had been running carefree with her pack, changing them into something different, something unknown. The once familiar trees had burnt away and swam as ash in an imaginary breeze, before reforming again into an unrecognisable forest. And there, there he stood between the foliage, unmoving; unflinching. The worm in her head writhed and buried deeper, when his voice- a low guttural growl- crept into her mind. She had shivered, not from fear but from anticipation. She had spoken to him before, always in her dreams. He could get to her when she wasn't awake and nothing Thomas had given her was helping.  
"Back again, little Wolf? A treat, as always." Something she had learnt from her conversations with him was that this bond between them wasn't his doing specifically, he had no more control over it than she had. She didn't let him know that.  
"Tell me what you want with her," a demand, a strength in her voice that had come from her pack, from being their leader, their protector, their provider. Her Wolf's strength.  
"Won't you join me?" He ignored her, he always ignored that question, answering it with this same one every time. She shook her head, moving a step towards him. The worm inched further inside and she felt the pain it caused in her physical body. "No matter. You will soon." A surety that blocked her throat with panic laced his voice, and she cleared it with a growl that reverberated through her bones. The worm dug deeper, causing her to flinch. His quick yellow eyes missed nothing, his muzzle pulling back into a menacing grin, canines sharp and wicked. A breath of hot air frosted and became white mist that escaped his jaws. "Would you like to see how?" He asked. "Would you like to see the control?" The worm, inky and black, nestled, it's body slamming around her mind, shooting pain into every corner of her body. "Come find me, little Wolf, and I'll teach you what you don't know."  
"I won't," she growled through gritted teeth, the pain real and haunting, even in her corporeal form.  
"Wake up. For every day you're not by my side, this is what your days will look like." She shook her head, not understanding. Then it hit her, blinding pain, white hot. A change, but she hadn't caused it. Her eyes had opened, the colour of the world altered, her vision clear but her eyes watering as her body tore itself apart and became remade. The most painful change of her life and she couldn't scream as her teeth grew and sharpened. Protruding viciously from a human jaw, her gums bleeding. Rhydian. Where was he? Could he not feel her pain? Some part of her was glad he wasn't there to watch as her fingernails changed and her bones broke over and over again. She tried to let go and fall into unconsciousness but her body wouldn't let her. Just as she was about to drown in the pain, it was relieved, her senses coming back before it broke her all over again. She changed more times that night than she could count, and when the sun rose the next morning, she was so wrecked with exhaustion her body wouldn't allow her to move from the tangle of torn sheets that littered the floor. Was this it? Was this his warning? It wasn't.

She was still on the floor hours after, unable to move, when Malory had walked in and found her, naked and trembling. She hadn't heard the young Wolf's words as she hurried over to her, hadn't heard Rhydian's when he entered two minutes later after Malory had called him. She flinched at the hands that pulled her into his chest, until a warmth spread over her and calmed her aching body. She cried at the feeling as the phantom pain began to subside and the feeling of her limbs came back to her. Two hours later she was sat in Thomas' house, relaying what had happened to her when Isaac ran in, his face twisted in an emotion she recognised more clearly than she wished she did. There was grief in his eyes, grief and anger and despair. One of his pack, dead. Found lying in the field where she had been, only they couldn't save this Wolf like they'd saved her. It was a message, and she knew what it read. For every day that you're not by my side, there will be blood shed.

The full moon was supposed to be a joyous occasion for the pack, but the day before had left them broken and grieving. A deep silence lulled the forest, lulled the wolves. No-one left the confines of the pack, no-one went anywhere alone. That included the college grounds. Every where that Malory went, Sam and James followed, every where that she went, Rhydian was two steps behind. Isaac hadn't returned, preferring to stay with his mourning family. The Wolf that had been killed was an old member, his funeral had been held that day. It was all she could think about as she attended her lesson, unable to concentrate on anything but the guilt that was building and clouding her mind.  
"Didn't you know," her lecturer was saying, a background noise to her reeling thoughts, "they say the English monarchy are werewolves.' Behind the thoughts of the past few nights, behind the thoughts of strange forests and slavering jaws, gold eyes flashed across her memory and a question- too quick and fleeting for her to grasp- formed and dissipated in a second. It was gone before she could think about it, replaced by a thrumming of her blood that hadn't quite left her since her dream. She told herself it was just the effect of the full moon, though, she told herself it was okay. She was still telling herself that when Rhydian appeared to take her to Thomas' for the run.  
"I'm fine," she told him, as his mouth opened to form the question she knew he was about to ask. Instead, he leant down to place a kiss on her head.  
"I know you will be." A reassurance, that's what he was, a calm and steady constant in everything that was going on. He kissed her again. "Smelly girl," he grinned. And even with everything that was happening, even with her Wolfblood aching with the threat to come, she laughed. Laughed because that was what he had said to her, all those years ago when she had first walked home with him. When he had been lost and afraid and she promised to help him, just as he would now.

That night, as they gathered in the clearing, a different tone settled in the air. It wasn't the crackling, pulsing energy that usually echoed around them. It was a deep, ancient solidarity that weighed upon them all, heavy and silent. She tried to avoid looking to the small group at the edge of the clearing, their heads down, their faces wet with tears, their eyes rimmed with exhaustion and anguish. The Wolfbloods family, tucked away in their own invisible wall of grief. They weren't alone though, everyone was hurting that night, everyone was aching for their lost kin. Thomas began to speak from beside her, addressing the packs that stood before them.  
"Tonight," he started, his tone mournful, "we run as one. As one larger pack. We set aside our differences, we set aside our seperate packs, because we are all the same. We are all kin. We are all Wolfblood and we will run as Wolfblood. Tonight we will remember Bran together, as we will remember him always, as one of us." His voice was clear, slicing through the night winds, but something was humming in her body. Something was boiling beneath her skin and his voice was fading in her ears. It rose, bubbling up, rising into her head, pounding against her brain. Then it burrowed there, that inky worm. She looked to the moon, her vision swimming. It was the effect of it, the effect of the full moon as it widened the veil between her humanity and her Wolf, it increased her instincts. It strengthened the Wolf, it strengthened the bond that was tightening between her and the wild Wolfblood. She pushed it out, or tried to, but the wolves around her had begun to change, the run was beginning and she was losing herself.  
"Rhydian," she whispered, the noise catching as she fell onto newly formed paws. It was the last word she said before she was gone. Before she turned in a direction her instincts forced her to, and ran. There was a vague sense of someone following her, a Wolf she recognised, but He was whispering to her now.  
"Come," the voice in her mind growled at her. "Come and leave them." She didn't want to listen to it but then the images began playing. Images of her pack, images of that dark and wild Wolf standing over the people she loved, his jaws red with their blood. "Come and save them." He whispered into the dark thoughts. "I'll teach you what you don't know." It continued as she ran in the direction of that bond, as it pulled her to him. "You're mine," he began now. "Your life is mine, I took it. Remember?" She'd died. She had died. For a brief moment on that field, death had grasped her in its jaws, just before he had shaken her loose. That was it. That was the reason for their bond. "I'll release you." His voice sounded soft in her ears, mimicking the tone Rhydian would use when he held her close. "I'll release you," he said again. A harsh break of a branch behind her made her ears flicker, made her sniff the air. Rhydian. He was following her, her parents too. Her pack was chasing her and she could sense the worry in the minds. Thomas darted towards her from her right, his pack close behind, Malory and hers came from the left. They were closing her in, they could sense something wrong. "You'll get them killed if you don't leave them," that voice laughed, a dark pleasure lacing his words as the images sprang into her thoughts again. This time, there was too many faces, too many of the people she recognised, their bodies contorted and broken. "Leave them." He ordered. And as she ran, faster than them from the head start she had gotten, as she crossed the boundary of Thomas' borders, she reached deep within herself and tugged. Tugged at the bond between Rhydian and her parents, tugged at it until is snapped. Until it left a splinter so sharp in her mind that she almost tripped just as she watched her pack do out of the corner of her eye. No, not her pack. She watched as Rhydian went tumbling, his legs falling out from underneath him. Watched as he rolled to his feet, whining as he could only stare at her leaving. She heard his howl long after it had finished, carried that sound with her long after she entered the foreign woods from her dream. She regretted it but she couldn't fight it, couldn't fight the urge to protect them, not when those images had been so real, and she couldn't find Him. Couldn't fight the leash he had wrapped around her mind, crushing her will with each tug she tried to release herself with. She wasn't strong enough, not yet.


	27. Wolf Hidden

She could see the prey before her, a rustling in the grass. She could smell its scent, even if she was blind she could follow it now. It had become a competition. A game to track and capture between her and the wild Wolfblood. She flicked her ear, smelled the air around her for any traces of him. This would be her win, finally her win. As a wolf, she could run for miles; speed had always been her strongest asset, she would always be able to beat him in that. But as she launched for the prey, it moved, banking right as it sensed her. That's where he appeared, ready and waiting. She hadn't even known he was there, hadn't sensed him at all. But he had known where she was, had known what she would do. His ability to hide himself, his instincts, that's what made him stronger than her. That's what made her hold back all these hours they spent together, made her refrain from killing him. Because she would lose, she knew it. Knew what it would be like to be held within those jaws just as he held their prey. He called it training, and she knew she would not eat tonight because of it. A low growl escaped her, irritated that she could not detect him. He knew, he knew she wanted to escape, but that bond that had snapped into place on the full moon. It was terrifying and ancient, a bond that had formed through her death. It would take death to break it and it had taken her a long time to accept that. So, she wasn't free, and he knew she couldn't escape. He relished in it, curled up his lips to flash her his blood-soaked canines. She had to stay calm. Rhydian. Mum. Dad. Mal. Isaac. Thomas. Alyassa. She began to repeat their names silently, in the dark corner of her mind where his probing couldn't reach. He was beginning to control the bond now, beginning to understand how to seep into her dreams at night. A nightmare, he was becoming a living nightmare and she knew she had to deal with it soon. Alyassa, that was a thought he would regularly visit in her dreams. So, she made it her goal to figure it out while she was awake. Alyassa, the girl with golden eyes. Golden eyes. A wolf's eyes. And this man, he was her father but his eyes were dark, almost as dark as his pupils. She'd gotten them from her mother then, passed down through one side of her family. There were things in her mind, links she was making that she just couldn't piece together.

That night, as she felt his claws seep into her thoughts, as she felt them tear up the image of Alyassa and her golden eyes that she had purposely been thinking of, she sent more images. Pictures of them in the woods the day they found her, replaying the scene, Alyassa calling him her father. He tore them all up. It hurt, the rage he was in, shredding images in her mind. It hurt, but she wouldn't stop. He would reveal something, she knew he would. Because this bond, it had started going two ways, and now she could feel his emotions… and sometimes, when his emotions were running high, she could hear his thoughts. As she watched him tear up those eyes, she felt one barrel through her. A single word: rebellion.

That morning, she left before he woke up. She couldn't go far, not without him sensing her, he could always find her now. But as she looked at him, a large black wolf sleeping in the forest, unafraid and uncaring of predators. She smiled, because he wasn't the only one who could always find her.

Taking her time, not wanting to disturb the earth, she walked towards a clearing that had become their meeting point. Something in her chest broke at the sight of him, at the way he stood. His back was to her unaware of her presence, his hands were in his pockets shielding him from the cold of the morning, the light from the canopy of leaves above playing on his hair. If she could draw like he could, she would have drawn him. He still didn't turn when she came behind him and changed, her paws becoming arms that she reached for him, pulling away before she could touch him. He jumped, startled but didn't move.  
"You know, you're really good at that now. Scarily good." He was talking about her stealth. She had indeed been learning with the wild Wolfblood, she was becoming stronger. But she knew he only trained her because he was confident he wouldn't lose her. That this bond would become further cemented in time and there would be no way to break it. She wanted to bury her face in his back, taking in the scent of him, so familiar yet not, and he turned to face her she felt like crying. But instead she grinned as she looked up at him.  
"Now who's the better tracker," she spoke, confidence in her quiet voice. She was still scared he could hear her. It was a risk, meeting Rhydian, it was always such a risk. Especially when she still couldn't locate him fully. But she would cover it up, every morning she would bring back a hunt, tell him she'd gone training, wash the smell of Rhydian away in the river. She would always make sure they never came by this route in their runs. At the beginning, he would follow her, thinking she didn't know. And on those days, she would just hunt and train. After a few weeks, he stopped following her and she would meet here on the border of their two territories with him. He smiled at her, reaching to move her hair aside with his hand, watching his own fingers as they curled up before he could touch her rather than looking at her.  
"I hate this," he said, after a long silence. She couldn't look at him. Couldn't explain to him again how hard it was to get away. But she needed to, because every meeting with Rhydian made the hold He had on her relax, even if she couldn't touch him.  
"Last night, when he thought about Alyassa, he mentioned rebellion. What do you think that means?" Rhydian stopped looking at his hand and frowned, thinking. It was playing in her mind, the word, over and over again. Something about it tugged at a thought from the past but she couldn't quite grasp it.  
"Rebellion. Revolt. Uprising…" His words were a murmur.  
"What?" She cut off his thoughts.  
"From history, remember? French revolution?" Something was there, something she was so close to. Alyassa. She needed to speak to Alyassa. "You thought of something? What is it?" He was asking her something but her mind was a mess of words and images, sentences and scenes clicking into place. She needed to speak to Malory.  
"I don't know, I'll think on it…" she trailed off, thinking for a moment. "How's everything? The pack?" She asked every time, and every time that lump formed in her throat. Rhydian sighed, hand coming up to rub his head. It was taking a toll on him, she could see that. Dark circles had formed beneath his eyes, he'd lost weight – not from lack of eating, though, she could see that- from over exerting himself, from the endless pacing through the woods she would dream of him doing at night.  
"They miss you, everyone's worried. Mal's going crazy, it's like she's trying to start a pack fight the way she argues with Isaac. Ceri's trying to think of a way out of this, she's contacted all the pack's she can think of back home who might know something about it. Your parents… Well, they're struggling. Your mum's so angry she never stops moving, your dad's the opposite, he's just quiet a lot." That lump in her throat squeezed and she felt tears threaten to fall. Rhydian's own face was strained and she wanted to reach out to him, ached to just touch him once, but she couldn't. She couldn't risk the wild Wolfblood scenting him on her.  
"You'll tell them, won't you? That I'm okay, and that I love them?" She lowered her head, watching the pattern of the dirt on the ground, crumbling because it was cold and had been disturbed by their feet.  
"You know I will, Mads." He opened his mouth to say more, but closed it again. She knew what he was going to say, that she wasn't really okay. But what good would that have done when they couldn't find a way out of this.  
"I'm okay. I'll be okay. Rhydian..." She started, focusing his attention on her. "I'm going to kill him." She watched as his eyes turned hard and icy, watched as her resolve dawned on him.  
"Can you really do that, Mads. Could you kill him?" She didn't know. The idea of it made her sick. But for her freedom, for her pack, she would do anything. To ensure their safety, she could kill the threat. She said as much to him and he nodded.  
"I'm with you, Maddy. When the time comes, I'm with you." She didn't need to touch him then, because no physical contact could compare to the emotion that played between them. The absolute understanding, the bond between them, the love that she could always see behind everything.  
"I know, that's why I love you," she smiled at him. A genuine smile that he returned.  
"Come back safe, okay. We're all waiting." With that, they left each other. One second there, the next gone. Like they had never been stood there at all. The woods remained untouched, the birds never halted their songs, as though even the forest was trying to hide them.


End file.
